Moeagaru Kibou: Flaming Hope
by Insecticidal Soap
Summary: A dreamer finds her dream, her friends tagging along, a new force of evil, can our fighters get the six-stared dragon ball back from the insane namekian? my first story ever, please be r/r and let me kno if its any good! thx!!
1. Intro

After Trunks had destroyed the androids seventeen, eighteen, and Cell in  
his own time, he and his mother Bulma realized that they were the only  
one's left among a small population of surviving humans. That was when  
Bulma's ingenious mind came up with a plan, to bring all of the 'Z- Fighters' back to their time. With the help of Trunks, she built a space ship that was powerful enough to reach Planet Namek, a planet thousands of  
light-years away. Trunks traveled there, and brought back a Namek named Mukano, who was capable of creating new Dragon Balls, which could be used to summon the Eternal Dragon, who could grant two wishes. Bulma and Trunks gratefully thanked Mukano, and flew him back to his home planet. The next  
step in Bulma's plan would be to find all of the seven mystical Dragon Balls. It took the mother and son duo only a day to complete the task of  
collecting all of them. Then, with the seven Dragon Balls in hand, they  
went to Mr. Popo's tower (which, luckily, hadn't been destroyed by the androids) where the dragon was usually summoned. They beckoned the Eternal Dragon, and used their two wishes, which they had certainly earned. First, they wished for everyone who had been killed by the androids to be brought back to life. That included all the Z-Fighters, as well as all the humans  
who had been murdered by the ruthless machines. Then, they wished Goku  
back, who had died from a radical disease that had attacked his heart. Unfortunately, the dragon couldn't grant their wish, because Goku had been wished back much too many times before, after dying from horrible fates. So  
instead, the two decided to wish for the whole world to be returned to normal, meaning that all the burned forests would have life again, and all  
the demolished towns and cities would be restored. Since Vegeta, Trunks' father, was alive again, he and Bulma decided to have  
another child. They named their new baby girl Bra. With a new family member, the Briefs family was happy once again. Everyone had been wished back, and Trunks' time was just as it was before the androids had arrived.  
As Trunks had said, the nightmare was over.  
Or so they thought. 


	2. Chapter 1

AN: Ok hi everyone! this is my 1st story i ever wrote and its a fanfic and it's dbz. i kno its not that good but it's got a lot of funny stuff in it and it always makes me laugh lol. please r&r if you decide to read. thanx!! ^_^  
  
Disclaimer: i don't own any of the dbz characters, just the ones i thought up for this story.  
  
******************************************  
  
..::*Moeagaru Kibou * Flaming Hope*::..  
  
Chapter 1  
  
*********  
  
Wednesday, April 19th 2006  
  
"Vegeta! Get in here and help me with the dishes!" yelled Bulma.  
  
"I don't clean dishes!" he argued.  
  
"I don't care! Now get in here!" she ordered.   
  
It was an exciting evening at Capsule Corp. Bulma had invited everyone over, for a big dinner. After eating, everybody had gathered around to watch a new mystery movie, 'Silent Cries'. When it had ended, Gohan ran over to the VCR and popped out the video. "That was the best movie I've ever seen!" he declared.  
  
"What? No way! That totally stunk!" replied Oolong.  
  
"Oolong, you wouldn't know what a good movie was, if it slapped you in the face!" laughed Trunks. Oolong grunted. "Hey look!" pointed Gohan, who had sat down.  
  
"This just in! There's a new creature, terrorizing the streets!" said the announcer on the television.  
  
"Uh oh... here we go again..." sighed Chiaotzu. Bulma and Bra who had just finished washing the dishes walked in.  
  
"No! This is gonna ruin my birthday if everyone is out fighting..." said Bra annoyed.  
  
"This time, it's a strange looking green creature!" said the announcer on TV. Piccolo's eyes almost popped out of his head. "Th… That's Jukuo!" he said in disbelief.  
  
"Who?" asked Goten.  
  
"Jukuo...my friend from Namek. He always said that he was going to come to Earth one day and destroy it, but no one ever really believed him."  
  
"Whoah..." said Trunks.  
  
"I trained with him before I came to earth. He has great power." explained Piccolo.  
  
"This strange looking monster has last been sited in Crescent Valley, shooting strange spheres out of his hands at unsuspecting victims!" said the news announcer nervously.  
  
"Whoah! I've never seen that attack!" said Yamcha as a scene of Jukuo killing someone came onto the screen.  
  
"Yeah... that's his Shooting Sphere attack. One of the most powerful ones he learned when we trained together." Piccolo said.  
  
"Well, it looks like you're all going to be out training again...right?" asked ChiChi carefully eyeing them all.   
  
"Um... yeah, probably..." said Gohan.  
  
"WELL NOT YOU!" she yelled.  
  
"But Mom!" said Gohan.  
  
"BUT NOTHING YOUNG MAN! YOU'RE STAYING HOME AND STUDYING!" ChiChi screamed.  
  
"Oh c'mon ChiChi! We need him!" Yamcha persisted.  
  
"I ALWAYS let him go off with you and fight, but this time he's not going to have any part of it!" ChiChi said annoyed.  
  
"Mom! I thought we were done with all this studying stuff!" Gohan whined.  
  
"Gohan, I'm sorry but you're just gonna have to sit this battle out!" she said.  
  
"Ugh...Fine!" said Gohan smugly. He wasn't about to let his mother stop him from fighting, no matter how hard it was.  
  
Meanwhile, a seventeen-year-old girl, named Nicole was talking on the phone, with her best friend Leah. Nicole had always been a shy girl, who usually kept to herself. However, when she was with her family or friends, she was a crazy, hyper lunatic! She had light brown hair with blonde highlights, and soft dark brown eyes. Leah was loud and outgoing, and gave great fashion tips. She had brown hair, and bright hazel eyes. The two were the best of friends, and had always been very close, ever since they first met in kindergarten.  
  
"...And then she's like, 'You don't have to be so stuck up!' and I was like, 'You're the one who's being stuck up!' and she just kept going on and on about how I stole her stupid idea." Leah was explaining how she and their ex-friend Heather had gotten into a fight.  
  
"She should just leave us alone. I mean, how long has it been since she left us? Like, six years!?!?" Nicole said.  
  
"I know, really!" agreed Leah.  
  
"Anyway, are we still going to the mall tomorrow?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Yeah, but Angelica still doesn't know if she can go." Leah replied. Angelica was their other friend. She had light brown hair, and blue eyes. She was shy too, but very sociable. "Call her tonight, ok?" Nicole said.  
  
"Yeah, ok. I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow at 12:30." Leah responded.  
  
"Alright, bye!" Nicole said hanging up. She changed into her pajamas, climbed into bed, and fell asleep, thinking about how much fun they were going to have at the mall the next day.  
  
Back at Capsule Corp. Bra was telling everyone what she wanted for her birthday. "...And I want an inflatable chair, a new boom box, the new Mandy Moore CD, and that new video game 'Legend of the Seven Stars'!" she listed.  
  
"Ok Bra, just chill out! Your birthday will come soon enough!" Trunks said smiling.  
  
After Bra had finished listing everything she wanted, ChiChi said, "Well it's getting late, we'd better be going."  
  
"Ok, see you guys soon!" said Yamcha.  
  
"Thanks for dinner Bulma, it was really good." Thanked ChiChi.  
  
"Sure!" Bulma replied.  
  
"Ok, c'mon Gohan, Goten, we're leaving." said ChiChi.  
  
"Ok!" said Goten. He and Gohan were talking to Bra. "Bye guys!" Bra waved. A few seconds later, they left with Piccolo. Next, Yamcha, Master Roshi, Krillin, Chiaotzu, Tien, Puar, and Oolong left.  
  
  
  
"Well, that turned out to be a great party!" said Bulma happily. "Don't forget 'Silent Cries' is due back at the movie rental store tomorrow, Ok Trunks?" she reminded.  
  
"Oh yeah," he said. "I'm going to the mall tomorrow so I'll drop it off on my way." he said. Suddenly, Vegeta announced, "I'm going to bed since I'm going to start training again tomorrow."  
  
"Ok, Goodnight!" said Bulma.  
  
"Night Dad!" Bra chimed in.  
  
"'Night." said Trunks. Vegeta went upstairs. "I think you'd better go to bed too Bra." said Bulma.  
  
"Oh...Ok..." she sighed, getting up from the couch. After she'd gone upstairs, Bulma said, "So Trunks, what are you getting Bra for her birthday?"  
  
"Oh, I'm probably gonna get her the new Mandy Moore CD." he replied.  
  
"Oh... right. I'll make sure not to get her that now..." she said.  
  
The next day came quickly. Nicole, Leah, Angelica, and their other friend Johanna all met at the mall at 12:30, just as planned. "So... where are we gonna go?" asked Johanna.  
  
"Hey guys… remember when I used to be fat…?" Leah suddenly blurted out.   
  
"Oh God… " Johanna moaned. Everyone knew what was coming. Leah had recently just lost 30 pounds, was a lot slimmer, and she always seemed to be bringing up how she was fat. "Leah… you were never fat to begin with!" Nicole said.   
  
"Yeah I was!" argued.   
  
"Ok, whatever guys. So… where are we gonna go first?" Angelica interrupted.   
  
"Weathervane!" Leah suggested Leah. Everyone agreed. They walked to the other side of the mall, where Weathervane was located. As Nicole walked in, she saw a really cool tank top. It was lavender, her favorite color, and in the middle, spelled out in diamonds, was the word 'Princess'! She had to have it. "Oh my God! Look at this shirt! It's so cute!" said Nicole.  
  
"Yeah, that is cool!" said Angelica walking over.  
  
"I'm buying it." Nicole said, beginning to search for her size on the rack. After she found it, she went over to another aisle where Leah was looking at a jacket. It was bright orange, and had sparkly orange palm trees covering the front. "This is really pretty..." said Leah, considering buying it.  
  
"You should get it!" Nicole urged.  
  
"Yeah... you're right!" agreed Leah, taking it off the rack.  
  
A little while later, after stopping in Abercrombie, The Limited, American Eagle, and a few other places, the four decided it was time to go to the last store. "I have to get my cell-phone fixed... Titan broke it again..." said Leah, referring to her small black cat.  
  
"...and I have to get some hand lotion." said Johanna.  
  
"I want to get the new Nelly CD..." Nicole said.   
  
"Well, why don't you two go together and split up to get the things done, and I'll go with Johanna to Victoria's Secret for hand lotion." suggested Angelica, looking at Nicole and Leah.  
  
"Yeah, that sounds good!" agreed Leah. It was settled. Nicole and Leah headed to Sprint PCS, to get Leah's cell-phone fixed, while Angelica and Johanna went in the opposite direction. Once the two girls reached the store, Leah went in, and Nicole kept walking until she reached Record Town. Once inside, she headed over to the 'N' section. After quickly scanning through all the music artists, she saw Nelly. She grabbed the CD, and turned to go pay. That's when it happened. Right in front of her, picking out a Mandy Moore CD, was an incredibly cute guy. He had short, mushroom-cut lavender hair, with two strands hanging down in front of his sky-blue eyes. He was wearing a denim jacket with the Capsule Corp. logo on the sleeve, over a black tank top and dark gray baggy pants. Somehow, Nicole knew exactly who it was. The guy from her dream!  
  
  
  
When she was younger...twelve years old... Nicole had had a dream. She couldn't really remember it clearly anymore, but she knew that she was buying a CD and she saw this guy, with mushroom-cut lavender hair. She thought it was simply a crazy fantasy that would never come true. But she had never quite forgotten that dream ... she had never quite stopped wishing deep in her heart that it would come true. Because, now it had. Nicole had finally met the one from her dream... the one that she believed was truly meant for her... the one that she had been in deep love with until she had finally given up on finding him… even though it was in a dream she had had six years ago. And now, at last, Nicole had met Trunks.  
  
There were a million questions going through her mind. Should I wait here until he sees me? Should I talk to him? Nicole didn't know what to do. Now, more than ever before, she believed that her dream really was a vision, that was showing her the one meant for her. Finally, she mustered up enough courage to talk to him. She decided that she'd start their first conversation, secretly hoping she wouldn't make a complete fool of herself.  
  
Nicole slowly made her way to Trunks. She held her breath. "You're buying a Mandy Moore CD?" she asked shyly.  
  
"Oh, yeah. It's for my sister's birthday." He explained, turning to her.  
  
"Cool! I saw Mandy in concert once... it was awesome!"  
  
"Really?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Yeah..." replied Nicole.  
  
"So, what other music do you like?" he asked as they both went to pay for their CDs.  
  
"Oh, Nelly, Crystal Clear, Amber Kadola, Oxygen, and I like some songs by Diamond." Nicole listed.  
  
"Cool… yeah I like that new song by Diamond…" he said.  
  
"Um… 'Until Then'?" Nicole said.  
  
"Yeah… that one." Trunks responded.  
  
"I really like that one too…" she agreed, as they both walked out the front door of the store. "So… what's your name?" Nicole asked, hopping to take their conversation a little further.  
  
"Oh! I'm Trunks…Trunks Briefs." He replied.  
  
"I'm Nicole Thompson." She said grinning, now knowing for sure that he was the one from her dream. Now that they reached the doorway to Record Town they both stopped, and just as Nicole had hoped, he made the move. "Look, I gotta go…are you… busy tonight?" Trunks asked slowly.   
  
"Oh… no…" Nicole answered.  
  
"Do you… wanna go out for cappuccinos?" he said.  
  
"I'd love to!" Nicole said happily.  
  
"Great. Why don't I meet you… at 'Lunar Café' around… 8:00?" Trunks suggested.   
  
"Can't wait…" Nicole said beaming.  
  
"Well, I'd better be going…" he said.  
  
"Ok… well I'll see you then!" she said as Trunks turned around, waved to her, and walked away.  
  
Nicole could feel herself beginning to blush from head to toe. She couldn't believe it had all happened that quickly! Trunks had asked her out on the spot! This is so perfect! she thought. She walked to the Sprint PCS shop, to see if Leah was done getting her phone fixed. Just as she reached the doorway in, she stopped and leaned against the wall. She sighed… her dream had actually come true!  
  
"Well you look extremely happy…" said Leah in a disappointed voice. "They said they wouldn't fix my phone for free again, just because it's the eleventh time it broke! Now, if I want it fixed, it'll cost $160! Can you believe that? $160!" said Leah angrily.  
  
"Oh well…" said Nicole still smiling.  
  
"Lets just find Angelica and Johanna, and go home… my feet are killing me." said Leah annoyed. 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
*********  
  
After finding Angelica and Johanna, the four girls went into the parking lot, and got into Leah's new car that she had gotten for her birthday. "So Nicole, what happened with you at Record Town?" Angelica asked as Leah stopped at a red light.  
  
"Nothing much… why?" Nicole replied.  
  
"Well, you haven't stopped smiling since!" Leah said.  
  
"Oh… well I just got a good deal on my CD, that's all!" Nicole lied.  
  
"Yeah right! What really happened? No one gets that happy, just 'cause they got a good deal on a CD!" Johanna persisted.  
  
"I think Nicole met a guy…" Angelica said grinning.  
  
"Well, then it must have been some guy, 'cause you never get that excited about anyone!" Leah said, looking directly at Nicole.   
  
"Oh c'mon! If I had met anyone, I would have told you right away! Said Nicole, still smiling. There was a few seconds of silence, until Johanna blurted out, "So what's his name?!?!"  
  
"I didn't meet anyone!" Nicole said again.  
  
"C'mon Nicole, you're blushing!" laughed Leah. Nicole turned her head to hide her face from everyone.  
  
"Nothing happened." Nicole said finally, looking up.  
  
"Ok, fine. If you don't want to tell us…" Angelica giggled. Everyone laughed.  
  
After being dropped off at her house by Leah, Nicole quickly ate dinner and began to get ready for her date with Trunks.  
  
Once she had changed her clothes and done her hair, Nicole walked to the Lunar Café, since it was a short way from her house. Once she got there, she noticed Trunks standing near the doorway. She took a deep breath, and walked over to him. "Hi!" She said cheerfully.  
  
"Hey!" He smiled back at her. They both walked in. After sitting down, and ordering cappuccinos, Nicole tried to spark a good conversation by saying, "So when's your sister's birthday?"  
  
"Oh, it's the twenty-eighth… she's turning ten." replied Trunks.  
  
"Cool… I have a little brother… he'll be turning twelve in October." Nicole said.  
  
After a while, the two had finished their drinks, Trunks suggested that they go see a movie, since he had been meaning to see the newest release 'Deep'. He had also learned that Nicole loved mystery, sci-fi movies, and that she had wanted to go too.  
  
When the two reached the movie theatre, which was about four blocks away, they bought their tickets, and walked into the theatre that was showing 'Deep'.  
  
The movie was about a scientist, who studied underwater artifacts. She found a mysterious cave in the ocean one day, on the job. Curious, she went inside and found ancient ruins that she believed were from aliens, that had visited more than one million years ago. Summer, the scientist, took some things from inside the cave and into a laboratory to be studied. That was when all the weird things began occurring. Bizarre happenings took place, until eventually the alien-like-creatures that had visited long ago appeared in dreams to Summer, telling her to put the artifacts back.   
  
Just as she was about to go into the lab, to get the artifacts to return to the cave near the end of the movie, the screen went blank. "What the heck…?" Nicole whispered.   
  
"Oh my God…" Trunks said, worriedly.   
  
"What if there's a fire or something?!" Nicole panicked.  
  
"I dunno… let's get out of here…" Trunks said, standing up to join the herd of people already pushing there way out one of the doors.   
  
"Wait! Trunks! Your jacket!" Nicole reminded. Trunks had let her wear it because she was cold, but she had dropped it in all the commotion. She bent down, and frantically began searching for it. Hearing the announcement again, Trunks quickly said, "Nicole! It doesn't matter! C'mon!"  
  
"No! I'm not gonna have you loose your jacket!" Nicole stubbornly disagreed, as she kept searching with her hands. A few moments later, just as the announcement went off for the third time, smoke began to fill the room. "Nicole, I'm serious! We've gotta leave now! Look! There's smoke everywhere!" Trunks persisted.  
  
"I found it!" Nicole exclaimed, as she jumped up.   
  
"Good, now let's get outta here." Trunks said. For a split second, Nicole thought Trunks was mad at her. But looking at his eyes, she knew he wasn't. They were soft, kind and loving, just as they were when they had first met. As soon as the two reached the bottom of the theatre, (they had sat in the very top row) they could barely see where they were going. The smoke had become much too thick, and it was getting hard to breathe. "Do you see any of the exit signs?" Nicole asked tensely.  
  
"No… the smoke is too dense…" Trunks nervously replied. Nicole tried to make her way to the other side of the theatre to try to find an exit, but she stumbled over a row of seats, and fell. Quickly getting back up, she raced to the end of the row. She turned around, and saw that Trunks was right behind her. "I can't see any exits here either…" Trunks said alarmed.  
  
"Oh my God… I hope we don't have to start crawling on the ground to get out of here…" Nicole coughed, remembering how fire fighters used to come to her school when she was younger, and tell the classes how to handle a fire. Since smoke rises, you would need to crawl on the floor in order to breathe. Nicole turned around, and dashed to the other end of the theatre, and frantically started looking for the exit. She spun around, this way and that, looking for the red letters that spelled 'EXIT'. It was becoming darker and darker by the second. Then, just as Nicole was beginning to think she might die in this freak accident, she felt Trunks' lips touch hers. The two kissed. "In case we don't get out of this alive…" Trunks softly explained.  
  
"I see the exit…" Nicole suddenly whispered. She pointed to the extremely dim crimson letters overhead. "Great." Trunks grinned. The both made their way to the door that was barely visible. Luckily, they had found a door that led straight outside. The duo quickly got outside, and inhaled breaths of clean, fresh air. Nicole noticed the crowd of people gathered outside, and the four fire engines. Then, a fire fighter made his way over to the two. "Did you two just get out?" he asked. Nicole and Trunks nodded. "You're lucky you made it out when you did. If you were in there any longer, the fire would had eaten its way through the wall and into the theatre you were in." he explained. Nicole breathed a sigh of relief.   
  
A half-hour later, everything had calmed down, and everyone was told to leave the theatre since it was badly damaged. As the two walked away from the theatre, Nicole glanced at her watch. It was 10:55. She had to be home in five minutes, since her curfew was 11:00. However, she didn't want to go back home. Not just yet anyway. She wanted to stay with Trunks forever. She had only met him earlier that day, but she felt like she had known him forever. "So… now what?" Nicole asked.   
  
"I dunno… do you wanna go home?" Trunks asked.  
  
"No… let's go to the park." she suggested. "I mean, my curfew's 11:00 but it doesn't really matter because my parents aren't home anyway. They're at a banquet."   
  
"Ok…" Trunks nodded.  
  
So the couple went to the park, which was pretty close by. Nicole and Trunks walked around the perimeter of the park several times, talking and laughing about their family, friends, and just life in particular. "Let's sit down…" Nicole implied as they came across a small bench.  
  
"Alright." Trunks said.  
  
"Trunks… I had a really great time tonight… I loved it." Nicole suddenly said. She slowly leaned over and softly kissed him. She felt Trunks' tongue gently touch hers. "Yeah… I loved it too." He quietly said when they had parted. Nicole looked at her watch again. "I'd better go home…" she reluctantly said. It was 11:45.   
  
"Alright… I'll walk you to your house, ok?" Trunks offered.  
  
"Ok." Nicole nodded. They both stood up and walked the short distance to Nicole's house. After exchanging their phone numbers, and e-mail addresses, they said goodbye. As Nicole walked into her house, all she could think about was the wonderful time she had had. Sure, she did almost die in a fire, but she had had the time of her life. Trunks had even asked her to come to his family's barbecue on Saturday! He told her she could bring some of her friends, and she knew that that would be the perfect way to introduce Trunks to Leah, Angelica, and Johanna. When she reached her house, she happily changed her clothes, got in bed, and fell asleep… knowing she had a huge smile on her face.  
  
The next morning, at Capsule Corp. Trunks told Bulma about his date with Nicole, and said that he had invited her and a few of her friends to their barbecue. He could tell that she was looking forward to meeting her.  
  
Meanwhile, at Nicole's house, she called her friends and asked them if they could come to the barbecue. Everyone could, except Johanna. She had to go to her orthodontist to get her expander removed.   
  
Nicole spent most of her day, talking to Trunks online. She was incredibly happy that their relationship had started off so smoothly, and she could tell it was going to be a good one.  
  
The next day, Leah picked up Nicole and Angelica and headed for Capsule Corp. After driving for a while, the trio reached the pale yellow dome-shaped building. They got out of the car, and Nicole led them both into the back of the huge building. "Hey!" Trunks yelled, running over to the three.  
  
"Hey!" Nicole said happily. He turned around and told everyone there to come and meet his new girlfriend. After Gohan, Goten, ChiChi, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, Master Roshi, Chiaotzu, Oolong, Bulma, Bra and Vegeta had all gathered around them, Nicole introduced her two friends.   
  
A few minutes later, Nicole noticed that while she had been talking with Trunks and his family, Angelica had been following Gohan around, and that Leah was flirting with Yamcha! "Oh no…" thought Nicole sarcastically, smiling to herself. 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
*********  
  
Just as the barbecue was ending and people were beginning to leave, Trunks pulled Nicole away from everyone. They went into Capsule Corp. and into the living room. Trunks told Nicole to sit down. She couldn't imagine what could be going on. "Look Nicole… I don't want this to affect our relationship, but there's something you have to know…" he began. Nicole looked into his eyes nervously. "The world's in danger… you know how Piccolo is from another planet?" he continued. Nicole nodded. "Well, you see, he had a friend a long time ago named Jukuo, that's here now, to try to take over the world." Trunks said. Nicole looked at him in disbelief. "Seriously?!?!" she asked. Trunks nodded. "No one's sure exactly what his plan is just yet, but we're sure he's trouble."  
  
"Oh my God…" whispered Nicole. "Isn't there anything we could do?"   
  
"Yes… which is why I want you to come with me. To help me find the Dragon Balls." Trunks responded.  
  
"The what?" Nicole said, confused.  
  
"The Dragon Balls… there are seven. If we can find them all, we can use them to summon the Eternal Dragon… which grants us two wishes." He explained.  
  
"Two wishes?" said Nicole, still confused.   
  
"Yeah, but we want to use those to fix any damage that Jukuo does to the world." Trunks finished. "I know it's hard to understand but tomorrow, I want you to meet me here at like… 7:00, and we'll go try to find them. I'll explain more then."  
  
"Ok…" Nicole agreed.  
  
"That's not too early, right?" he asked. She shook her head.  
  
Nicole and Trunks left the living room, and went back outside. The sun was beginning to set. Within the next five minutes, Nicole, Leah, and Angelica had said goodbye to everyone. Just as Leah and Angelica were getting into the 2006 silver Jaguar convertible that they had came in, Nicole ran over to Trunks, said, "I'll see you tomorrow!" and kissed him goodbye.  
  
As she got into the car with her two friends, Leah said, "Well Nicole, that sure was a fast growing relationship!"  
  
"Well what's up with you two, Yamcha and Gohan?" Nicole replied as they pulled out of the Capsule Corp. parking lot.  
  
"Well… they asked us out!" Angelica said excitedly.  
  
"Yeah right…" Nicole said.  
  
"It's true! You and Trunks went into Capsule Corp. when they asked us out, so you weren't there." Leah said.  
  
"So… what did you and Trunks do?" asked Angelica.  
  
"What do you mean, 'what did we do'?" Nicole questioned.  
  
"What did you do when you went inside?" Angelica said again.  
  
"Nothing." Nicole answered.   
  
"Oh, c'mon!" Leah said.  
  
"We didn't do anything!" Nicole repeated.  
  
"Tell us!" Angelica persisted.  
  
"Trunks just had to tell me something!" Nicole said, beginning to get annoyed.  
  
"Like what?" asked Angelica.  
  
"Ugh… you guys never give up, do you?" Nicole said smiling.  
  
"Nope!" grinned Leah.  
  
"Ok, well he told me to go back to Capsule Corp. tomorrow, so I can help him find the Dragon Balls." Nicole explained.  
  
"The Dragon what?" asked Angelica confused.  
  
  
  
By the time Nicole had finished explaining the situation to her two friends, they had made it back home. Angelica was dropped off first and Nicole next. Just as Leah pulled into Nicole's driveway, she said, "So the Dragon Balls can grant two wishes?"   
  
"That's what Trunks told me…" Nicole replied.  
  
"Any wish you could think of?" Leah asked.  
  
"I guess…" she answered.  
  
"Wow…" Leah said in awe.  
  
"Well, I'll try to call you when I get back home tomorrow, ok?" Nicole said.  
  
"Yep!" Leah said as Nicole got out from the car.  
  
"See ya!" she said slamming the door shut.  
  
  
  
Just as Nicole walked into her house, her little brother Josh ran up to her and said, "So, who's Trunks?"  
  
"You little brat! You read my diary again!" Nicole screamed, running after him.  
  
"Is he your new boyfriend?!?!" he said in a mocking type of voice.  
  
"None of your business!" Nicole said, chasing him into her room. After pushing him out, Nicole locked her door and sat down on her bed. Sometimes Josh could be so immature!  
  
After putting her pajamas on, Nicole walked out to the sun porch, sat down on the sofa, and turned the television on.  
  
"Now… back to the ABC News Report!" said the announcer on the TV. "Now, over four hundred people have been killed by this strange looking green monster!"  
  
"That must be Jukuo!" Nicole thought, looking at the picture of him.   
  
"The president had decided to send the U.S. navy out to try to kill this beast! However, we're not sure if this will work… he seems to be invincible!" continued the news announcer.   
  
Nicole changed the channel, hopping to keep her mind off the subject. Just then, her mom walked into the room. "So Nicole, how was the barbecue you went to?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, it was cool." Nicole replied.  
  
"You should probably be going to bed… it's getting late."  
  
"Alright…" Nicole sighed as she got up from the sofa. She hated it when her mom would tell her when to go to bed. It's not like I can't do that myself. Nicole thought. She walked down the hallway into her room, shut her door, and went to sleep.   
  
  
  
The next day, Nicole woke up at 6:00. Realizing that she had only one hour to get ready to go meet Trunks, she quickly got to work. Once she was dressed, had eaten breakfast, she went to Capsule Corp. When she got there, Trunks was waiting for her outside. "Hey!" Nicole said happily.  
  
"Hey!" he replied.  
  
"So… just how are we gonna find the Dragon Balls?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Well, first before we leave, I wanna teach you how to fly…" Trunks said.  
  
"Excuse me?" Nicole said, wondering how the heck he purposed to do that.  
  
"Fly. I know it sounds weird, but I know how to fly." He explained.  
  
"You're kidding… right?" Nicole couldn't help but smile. It was totally against the laws of nature! How could someone just… fly?   
  
"Nope." Trunks shook his head. "It's like this…" he said, his feet lifting off the ground.  
  
"Oh… my… God…" Nicole said in total shock. He was just floating there! Trunks grinned. "Now, you try it. Just jump off the ground…" Trunks directed. Nicole did as he said, and jumped. Unlike him, she came straight back down. She didn't float.  
  
"Don't worry Nicole… it'll take time. You just have to concentrate!" Trunks said.  
  
"Concentrate?" Nicole repeated. It sounded ridiculous! But still, if that's what Trunks said she should do, then she'd do it.  
  
  
  
"Ok… so… what do I do first?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Well, to start with, you need to be totally calm. Then, you have to focus your energy." He explained. Nicole closed her eyes, and tried to clear her mind. She let her arms fall down to her sides.  
  
"Ok, now focus on your energy. Try to bring it out. Try to imagine it flowing from your stomach up to your shoulders, and out of your fingertips." Trunks directed.  
  
Nicole did what Trunks said, and after about two hours, Nicole could successfully float in the air, for about thirty seconds.  
  
"Yes! You're doing it! Just keep concentrating…" Trunks urged, as Nicole made it passed her record of thirty seconds. Soon it was forty… fifty… sixty… and after 3 minutes of floating, Nicole tried to move around while in the air. She fell down at first, but then after several tries, she was able to move around freely in the air!  
  
"Awesome! Now that you know how to fly, it should make our search much easier." Trunks said happily. "I'll be right back… I have to get a radar device that my mom made to locate the Dragon Balls."  
  
"Ok!" Nicole said, hopping into the air again, to practice her new skill. A few minutes later, Trunks returned holding a small circular machine. "Here's the radar… we can leave now." Trunks said, lifting off the ground.  
  
"Alright." Nicole said. Trunks turned on the radar, and it automatically began to beep slowly. "West… follow me!" Trunks said, turning west, and flying off. At first, it was hard for Nicole to keep up with him, because he could move so quickly. But after a while, she was able to pick up speed, just like he could.   
  
The radar brought the two to a desert wasteland. They walked around for a while, trying to see which spots made the radar buzz more rapidly than others. Finally, Nicole spotted the three-stared Dragon Ball, half buried in front of a blossoming cactus. "One down… six to go." Trunks exclaimed. After he helped Nicole dig it out, the two left and went to find the next one.   
  
  
  
They flew to the north, following the directions of the radar. As the two flew, Trunks explained to Nicole what a Super Saiyan was, and how someone could reach different levels of Super Saiyan power. Finally, they reached a cold and icy tundra. "Oh… it's freezing…" whined Nicole.   
  
"Yeah… well let's just find the Dragon Ball, so we can go someplace warmer…" said Trunks, looking at the radar. "This way…" he directed. The two headed into a damp cave. After walking for a little while, Nicole said, "Is this cave ever going to end? It feels like we've been walking for years…"   
  
"I know…" Trunks replied. Just as they took a few more steps forward, the radar began to beep more quickly. "We're almost there…" said Trunks. Eventually, Nicole and Trunks reached the end of the cave. "There it is!" Nicole said, running to the seven-stared Dragon Ball that was perched on top of a huge, flat mass of ice. She picked it up, and gave it to Trunks. After they left the cave, they headed south just as the radar directed.  
  
  
  
They flew south until they reached a section of a topical rainforest, where the radar buzzed swiftly. "Freezing to boiling…" Nicole said annoyed.  
  
"Ugh… could it be any hotter?" Trunks said, walking forward, and looking up into a green, leafy tree. "There it is!" he said excitedly. "Hold this…" he said handing the radar device to Nicole. Trunks flew up to the top of the tree. It had to have been at least forty feet tall! After grabbing the Dragon Ball with one single star, he came back down.  
  
  
  
Next, the radar tool led them to the Gulf of Mexico. After searching by air for a little while, Nicole said, "Hey… what if it's in the water?" She looked out into the ocean. "Yeah! Let's check there!" Trunks said, moving away from the peer that they had been hovering over.  
  
"Wait for me!" Nicole replied, following. They went very far out to sea. "Stay here… I'm going under!" Trunks commanded.  
  
"No Trunks! I wanna go with you!" Nicole said.  
  
"Nicole… it's more safe is you just stay out here… I don't want you to get hurt." Trunks explained.   
  
"But… Oh ok… just please be careful!" Nicole agreed.  
  
"Ok… this should take about ten minutes… you'll be ok for that long, right?" Trunks asked. Nicole nodded. He dove under. After a few minutes, Nicole got very worried. She trusted him, and truly believed he'd be ok, but she just couldn't help it. Luckily, Trunks returned to the surface just as the ten minutes were up, holding the shinning five-stared Dragon Ball. "Yes! Now, only three more… right?" Nicole asked happily.  
  
"Yep!" Trunks replied.  
  
  
  
Just as the two were flying north, to find the next Dragon Ball, they saw a strange flicker of light shoot across the sky. "What was that?" Nicole asked, looking in the direction that the light had come from.  
  
"I don't know…" Trunks said nervously. "It might be…"  
  
"Who?" Nicole asked.  
  
"I'm not sure but… it could be Jukuo. I sense evil from that direction, but I'm not sure…" he explained.  
  
"Oh my God!" Nicole said in shock. "You mean Jukuo… Piccolo's friend!?!?"   
  
Trunks nodded. "Well… what's he doing?" Nicole asked. "I don't know… probably trying to find some new humans to torture…" Trunks said angrily.  
  
"Well, why don't we go after him?" Nicole questioned.  
  
"Because no one's sure exactly how strong he is, or what he's planning to do…" he answered.   
  
"Oh… well… someone has to be the first, right?" Nicole urged.  
  
After a few seconds, Trunks answered, "You know what? You're right. Let's go after him." he said, smiling. Nicole smiled back at him, and the two flew off, in the direction of Jukuo. 


	5. Chatper 4

Chapter 4  
  
*********  
  
They chased him for a few minutes, until he finally noticed them. They were above a forest when he turned around and gave them an icy stare. He was wearing a combination of clothes, similar to Piccolo's, and had an X-shaped scar on the right side of his face. "Ah… I see I've finally found you…" said Jukuo in a nasty tone.  
  
"No, I think we're the ones who've found you…" Trunks corrected.  
  
"I just want you to know, that it's futile to try to fight me… you'll lose." He said. Trunks glared at him. "First, I'm going to kill off all the fighters… like you. Then, I'm going to destroy all other life… and finally, I'll be able to rule this planet as my own." Jukuo laughed evilly.   
  
"Well, thanks for telling us your plan…" Trunks responded, with a great deal of attitude.  
  
"Any time! You should know… after all! You and your friends are going to be the first ones to die!" Jukuo said grinning.  
  
"Don't count on it…" Trunks said, turning and flying away.  
  
  
  
After Nicole had caught up with him, she said, "I can't believe it! We're going to be able to stop him… right?"  
  
"I still don't know… his power level is pretty strong, but you never know… he still could be hiding something." Trunks explained.  
  
"Well, let's go find the last three Dragon Balls." Nicole suggested.  
  
"Yeah… let's go…" Trunks agreed. They both headed east, following the radar.  
  
  
  
They flew for a while, until they came across a huge vulture's nest.  
  
"Oh God… I hope it's not in there…" Nicole said, looking at the glaring vulture that was guarding its eggs.  
  
"Great… I think it is…" said Trunks annoyed. The radar was rapidly buzzing. "I wanna get it." Nicole said looking at Trunks.   
  
"Alright… just be careful. That looks like one mad bird…" Trunks cautioned.  
  
"Don't worry…" Nicole smiled. She flew over to the vulture, and using her flying techniques that Trunks had taught her, she got the bird to move, and quickly grabbed the two-stared Dragon Ball from it's nest. The vulture became very angry, but returned back to its nest after trying to attack Nicole a few times. "That was an interesting experience…" Nicole said, handing the Dragon Ball to Trunks.   
  
"Great job!" he said grinning. "Two left now…"  
  
  
  
Once again, the two followed the radar north. "So… how does someone go Super Saiyan?" Nicole asked Trunks curiously.  
  
"Well, you have to have Saiyan blood in you. Like, my father Vegeta is a full-blooded Saiyan, and so is Goku. Then Gohan, Goten, Bra and I are all half Saiyan." Trunks explained.  
  
"But… Bra doesn't fight… right?" Nicole questioned.  
  
"Nope… you don't have to fight just 'cause you're part Saiyan." Trunks answered.  
  
"Oh… well then what about Piccolo, Yamcha, Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Tien? Are they Saiyans too?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Piccolo is a Namekian… like Jukuo. They're both from the planet Namek. Yamcha, Krillin, and all the others are humans, who are really great fighters." Trunks replied.  
  
"Wow…" Nicole said. She couldn't believe that there were actually fighting levels that people could reach by training! And it's not like she was ever very interested in the martial arts anyway.  
  
  
  
Suddenly, a blinding light flashed by them. "Oh my God!" Nicole shrieked, jerking herself backwards. "Is that Jukuo?!?!"   
  
"No… I think it's Vegeta… my dad…" Trunks said.  
  
"How do you know?" Nicole asked.  
  
"I don't sense evil…" Trunks said. They both followed the light, until they caught up with it. Trunks was right… it was Vegeta. "Hey!" he said, flying over to Nicole and Trunks. "Do you two have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"  
  
"We were looking for the Dragon Balls!" Trunks explained.  
  
"Anyway, Bulma wanted me to tell you that she wants you back at Capsule Corp. as soon as possible.  
  
"Ok… what does she want?" Trunks asked confused.  
  
"I think you took the wrong radar…" Vegeta replied.  
  
"Well, we haven't had any problems finding the Dragon Balls… we already have five!" Trunks argued.   
  
"Look, I'm not really sure if that's what she wants you for, but she sent me out to find you. Just go." Vegeta persisted.  
  
"Alright… let's go Nicole." Trunks said turning to her. The three flew back to Capsule Corp. wondering what Bulma could possibly want with them.  
  
  
  
After reaching the dome-shaped building, the three walked to the back, were Bulma, Vegeta, Bra, and Trunks all lived. "Hey Vegeta! It's about time you found them…" Bulma said cheerfully.  
  
"Hey mom!" Trunks said smiling. "So… what did you want to tell us?"   
  
"Oh, well you left before I could tell you that I've made a new Dragon Ball detector. Instead of buzzing when it gets within a one hundred thousand mile radius, this new one tells you exactly where each one is located!" Bulma explained proudly.  
  
"Oh great…" Nicole sighed. "We've already found five!"  
  
"Really?" Bulma asked.  
  
"Yep…" Trunks said, showing her the five Dragon Balls that he and Nicole had collected.  
  
"Well… you could still use it to find the other two…" Bulma said, handing Trunks the new radar.  
  
"Alright…" he answered.  
  
"Oh! We met Jukuo!" Nicole suddenly blurted out.  
  
"You did?!?!" Vegeta answered in shock. After explaining Jukuo's plan and a quick goodbye, Trunks and Nicole left to find the last two remaining Dragon Balls.  
  
  
  
Nicole looked up into the sky. It was growing dark. The sun had already set. "Ok…" Trunks said, just as the two were flying away from Capsule Corp. "This new machine says that the next Dragon Ball is… around some grass plain in Southern Brazil…"   
  
"Let's go then." Nicole said, flying ahead of Trunks.  
  
  
  
Soon, they reached a grassy hillside, which lead to a long, wide plain filled with grazing zebras, giraffes, and gazelles. "Hey! I think that might be it!" Trunks said, pointing to a shinning round object, glistening in the grass. They walked out beyond the herds of animals, until they reached the mysterious object. "Yep… you were right. It's the four-stared Dragon Ball!" Nicole said happily, picking it up.  
  
"Finally… one more now." Trunks replied.  
  
  
  
They both flew away from the plain of gazelles. "Where's the last one?" Nicole asked.   
  
"Oh… lemme check…" Trunks said looking at the radar.   
  
"Oh my God… this can't be right…" Trunks said in shock.  
  
"What?" Nicole asked.  
  
"The radar says… it says that Jukuo has the last one!" Trunks replied.   
  
"You've gotta be kidding!" Nicole answered in shock.   
  
"No! Look!" Trunks said, pointing to the radar screen. Nicole leaned over, and saw that he was right. The radar said that the six-stared Dragon Ball was in Jukuo's possession!  
  
"Oh my God!" Nicole said nervously. "What's he gonna do with it?"  
  
"He might be trying to collect all of them, so he can use them to summon the Eternal Dragon, and then wish for more power… or eternal life, like Garlic Jr. did… or something like that…" Trunks replied uncertainly.   
  
"Well, we gotta get it back…" Nicole said.  
  
"Yeah, but I don't know how…" he replied.  
  
"Why don't we go back to Capsule Corp. and tell everyone what we've learned?" Nicole suggested.  
  
"Good idea… let's go." Trunks said. They both flew to back to Capsule Corp.  
  
  
  
As they got there, Bulma came out and said, "Well that was fast! So you've got all the Dragon Balls now, right?"  
  
"Well… no…" Nicole answered. Bulma looked at the two curiously. "So… how many do you have then?" she asked.  
  
"We found six…" Trunks responded. "But… Jukuo has the last one."  
  
"Oh c'mon! What would he want with a Dragon Ball?" Bulma asked, not believing them.  
  
"We don't know… but look at the radar." Nicole said, pointing to the radar Trunks was gripping.   
  
"Oh my!" Bulma said, her eyes bulging. "You're right! What's he planning to do with it?"  
  
"We don't know." Nicole repeated. Just then Vegeta walked outside, and said, "So did you find the rest of the Dragon Balls?"  
  
"Well… yeah… sorta…" Trunks replied.  
  
"We found out from the radar that…" Nicole began.  
  
"… Jukuo has the last one!" Bulma finished. Vegeta was in shock. His eyes widened. "What?" he asked.  
  
"He has the six-stared Dragon Ball." Trunks said.  
  
"HOW COULD YOU LET HIM GET IT?!?!" Vegeta screamed.  
  
"We didn't! He found it on his own! After we met up with him, he must have seen the Dragon Balls we had, and decided to try to find them!" Trunks said unsure.  
  
"WELL WHY DID YOU LET HIM SEE THEM!?!?" Vegeta asked again angrily.   
  
"Well… we didn't know he'd care! How would he have known what the Dragon Balls are for anyway?" Nicole said.  
  
"HE'S A NAMEKIAN!" Vegeta yelled.  
  
"Alright Vegeta, calm down! We'll get it back from him!" Bulma said, trying to get Vegeta to stop screaming at Trunks and Nicole.  
  
"FINE. But I'm not going to be the one to die, because I didn't get the Dragon Ball back from him!" he said, stomping out the back door.  
  
"We couldn't! When we saw him, he didn't have it yet!" Trunks said, just as Vegeta slammed the door.  
  
"Ugh… THAT MAN…" Bulma said annoyed, as she walked out after him. "I'm going to set him straight!"  
  
  
  
It was getting late. At around 10:00 Nicole left for her house. "Well, thanks for helping me find the Dragon Balls… it would have been really boring looking for them alone." Trunks said.  
  
"Sure! I loved every second of it." She smiled. "Thanks for teaching me how to fly, too."  
  
"No problem!" he replied.  
  
"So… what are you going to do now about Jukuo?"   
  
"Well, I'm probably going to start training with my father… so I'll be strong enough to try and take him on…"  
  
"Oh… good luck! I know you'll be able to do it."  
  
And with that, they kissed, and she left.  
  
Just as Nicole got home that night, she saw her parents waiting for her. "So Nicole… where were you?" her mom asked, eyeing her suspiciously.  
  
"Uh… well, I spent the day helping my boyfriend Trunks look for…" Nicole hesitated. She was sure her parents wouldn't believe that there were Dragon Balls that could grant wishes. "Looking for…"   
  
"I don't care what you were looking for. You're late! You said you'd be home by 7:00!" her mom scolded.  
  
"I know…" Nicole answered.  
  
"You could of at least called!" her dad chimed in.  
  
"I did! About ten times, too! The line was busy!" Nicole replied.  
  
"That doesn't matter. What was so important that you were so late?" her mom asked.  
  
"I was helping Trunks!" Nicole said again.  
  
"Helping him do what?" her dad questioned.  
  
"Helping him look for the Dragon Balls!" Nicole finally blurted out.  
  
"What on earth are they?" her mom asked annoyed.  
  
"The Dragon Balls are seven magic balls that have the power to summon the Eternal Dragon once they're brought together. The Eternal Dragon grants who ever summons it two wishes." Nicole explained.  
  
"Well, that's really a very creative story Nicole, but it still doesn't explain why you're back at 10:00 instead of seven." Her mom said.  
  
  
  
Since her parents obviously weren't going to believe her, she made up some crazy story explaining why she was so late. Luckily, her parents let her off the hook easily and Nicole went straight to her room. She changed and got into bed. 


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
*********  
  
The next morning was Monday. Back to school. April vacation had ended, and it was the best Nicole had ever had. She had met the guy who she had had a dream about five years ago. Now, he was her boyfriend! She had spent an entire day with him, looking for the Dragon Balls that just might change the fate of the world. She had even learned to fly!  
  
  
  
Nicole slowly climbed out of bed, and turned on her radio, just like she did every morning. "…And after the break we'll tell you which public schools are closed because of this monstrous beast that's wrecking havoc in our world." Said the radio announcer.  
  
"Oh my God!" Nicole whispered. "They're canceling school now because of Jukuo!?!?"  
  
She waited for the commercials to end, and then listened to the listing of school closings. After about five schools were announced, the announcer said the high school Nicole and her friends all attended.   
  
"Oh God…" Nicole murmured in complete shock. Her school was closed! The first thing she thought to do was call Leah and Angelica.  
  
  
  
"School's closed?" asked Leah in disbelief.   
  
"Yep… all 'cause of Jukuo…" Nicole answered.  
  
"But I thought you and Trunks were gonna find the Dragon Balls and wish him away?" Leah questioned.  
  
"Well… we did… sorta. You see… we only found six out of the seven Dragon Balls. Jukuo has the last one. And we weren't gonna wish him away… we were gonna use the Dragon Balls to bring back anyone who dies during the battle with him." Nicole explained.  
  
"Woah… you mean you can wish people back alive with the Dragon Balls?" Leah asked.  
  
"Yep… it does sound crazy, huh?" Nicole laughed.  
  
"Just a little bit…" Leah answered sarcastically.  
  
  
  
After calling Angelica, Nicole walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen.   
  
"So have you heard?" her mom asked, a note of nervousness in her voice.  
  
"Yeah… school's cancelled…" Nicole answered.  
  
"I can't believe it. Why doesn't the navy just go and blow up that monster?!?!" her dad asked angrily.  
  
"…They can't. He's too strong. They'd all be killed." Nicole said.  
  
"How would you know?" asked Josh, taking a bite of the apple he was eating.  
  
"Ok… well… you know how my boyfriend is Trunks? Well… he's a… fighter." Nicole said. She knew that she'd have to explain to her family sooner of later, so she decided to get it over with.  
  
  
  
When Nicole had finished, her parents' mouths were wide open. "So… that's how I know who Jukuo is and what he can do. I met him on Sunday with Trunks…"  
  
"So… going Super Saiyan is like reaching a whole level of skill and power for… a fighter?" Josh asked.  
  
"Yep…" Nicole responded. After answering a few more of her family's questions, she walked into the living room, and turned on the computer. She was going online to see if she could talk to Trunks. Once the computer was warmed up, she clicked the icon into the Internet. As she was getting logged on, Josh came over to her chair and said in a worried childlike voice, "Is Jukuo gonna destroy the world?"   
  
"No… Trunks and his friends will stop him." Nicole said comfortingly. She could tell he wasn't acting stupid like usual. He was really scared.  
  
"Good." He said grinning. After he had left, Nicole drew her attention back to the computer screen. She looked at her buddy list, to see who was online. Angelica was… and so was her cousin Brittany. She knew Trunks would come on eventually, because he always did in the morning. While she was waiting, Nicole instant messaged Angelica.  
  
"Hey!" she typed out.  
  
"Hiya!" Angelica responded.  
  
"I don't believe they cancelled school 'cause of Jukuo!" Angelica typed again.  
  
"Well… it kinda makes sense 'cause he's always on a killing spree… maybe they thought he was gonna attack a school or something. That would be a good reason to cancel it… they'd save a few lives…" Nicole wrote.  
  
"Well, whatever the reason… I'm glad they did it!" Angelica typed.  
  
"lol!" Nicole typed back.  
  
"So what are you gonna do on your day off?" Angelica asked.  
  
"Umm… I might try to go to Capsule Corp. to see Trunks." Nicole wrote.  
  
"Cool. Make sure you ask him what Jukuo's doing that caused them to cancel school, ok?" Angelica said.  
  
"We already know…" Nicole answered. "He's trying to kill all the fighters so he can easily take over and rule the world…"  
  
"Oh! You didn't tell me that…" Angelica answered.  
  
"I didn't tell you about when Trunks and I were looking for the Dragon Balls and we found Jukuo?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Nope!" she typed back.  
  
"Ok, well we met him and we learned what his plan was… that's it." Nicole explained.   
  
"What'd he look like?" Angelica questioned.  
  
"Like Piccolo… they're both from the same planet. Planet Namek." Nicole typed.  
  
"So Jukuo's green?" Angelica said.  
  
"Yeah!" Nicole replied.  
  
  
  
Just then, Nicole heard the noise that indicated someone just signed on. "Trunks!" Nicole whispered aloud. She double clicked his screen name, and sent a message to him. After chatting for a while, she asked if she could come over to Capsule Corp., and watch him train. Luckily, Trunks said sure, and also invited Leah and Angelica to come too. At around 12:30, Nicole got in her mom's car to drive to Capsule Corp. She didn't want to fly because if was supposed to rain later, and she didn't want to fly home during the downpour. Not to mention, she was going to pick up Leah and Angelica, and they couldn't fly. After she picked the two up, and drove there, they all got out of the car, and walked into the backyard of Capsule Corp.  
  
  
  
The first thing the three noticed was Piccolo and Krillin having a battle. "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" Piccolo screamed, firing a beam of spiraled light at Krillin. He easily dodged it, and did a Kamehameha Wave back. "WOULD YOU GUYS KNOCK IT OFF!?!?" Bulma screamed annoyed, as she walked out from the building. She had just narrowly missed being hit by the blast from Krillin.  
  
"Hey Bulma!" Nicole said walking over to her.  
  
"Oh, hi Nicole!" Bulma replied. "Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan are inside. They should be out any second now…" Bulma said. She then walked over to Piccolo and Krillin, and began scolding them for almost blowing up Capsule Corp. Just then, Trunks walked out with Yamcha and Gohan following. "Hi!" Nicole greeted.  
  
"Hey!" Trunks replied.  
  
"Hey guys!" Leah and Angelica said in unison.  
  
"So… how's the training coming?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Pretty good… I think Gohan is gonna go Super Saiyan level three any time now…" Trunks said, turning to where Gohan was standing, only to see that he and Angelica were already on the other side of the yard.  
  
"What level are you on?" Nicole asked curiously.  
  
"I can go Super Saiyan level two… like Gohan can now." He explained.  
  
"Cool. So… exactly how do you guys train?" Nicole questioned.  
  
"Well… we battle each other. Of course, it's not like we're really gonna kill one another… like we would in a battle with Jukuo or someone evil. It's just training." He said.  
  
"Oh! So… who are you gonna battle?" Nicole asked.  
  
"When we were inside, we decided that I was gonna battle Gohan, and Yamcha was gonna battle Tien. Then, the winners of those would battle. Kinda like a mini-tournament." Trunks said.  
  
"Great!" Nicole said sitting down on the porch chair. A few minutes later, Leah and Angelica came over to sit with her.   
  
The first battle they watched was Yamcha and Tien. To start the duel off, Yamcha used his Spirit Bomb attack. Tien just missed it, as he blasted a Tri-Beam. After dodging it, Yamcha dove at Tien and began throwing punches. Yamcha started to win. All of his blows were getting to Tien, while Tien's didn't do much of anything. They were much too weak. Then, with a few punches, Yamcha knocked Tien out cold.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chiaotzu shrieked. He had been standing on the porch with Nicole, Leah, and Angelica while they were watching the fight. "YOU KILLED TIEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"So?" Yamcha said shrugging his shoulders.   
  
"DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT HIM??????!!!!!!!!??????!!!!!!" Chiaotzu yelled, as he began to cry.  
  
"I was only joking! Geeze…" Yamcha said.  
  
"Uhhhhh… Chiaotzu I don't think Yamcha really killed him…" Gohan said walking over to him.  
  
"YES HE DID! SOMEONE CALL 911! SOMEONE CALL THE PARAMEDICS! SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE! SOMEONE CALL SOCIAL SERCURITIES!" Chiaotzu sobbed.  
  
"Chiaotzu, you don't call social securities if someone's hurt…" Trunks corrected.  
  
"I DON'T CARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CALL THEM ANYWAYS!!!!!!!!! CALL THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CALL THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
  
  
Just then, Bulma walked out and said, "What the heck is going on out here?!?!"  
  
"Chiaotzu is going nuts 'cause he thinks I killed Tien. But I didn't… I just knocked him out." Yamcha explained.  
  
"Chiaotzu… please shut up." Bulma said annoyed. "I'm trying to take a nap upstairs, and you woke me up."   
  
"BUT HE KILLED TIEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chiaotzu screamed at the top of his lungs, as he pointed an accusing finger at Yamcha.  
  
"NO I DIDN'T! YOU'RE SO DAMN STUPID CHIAOTZU! QUIT ACCUSING ME!" Yamcha yelled. He was obviously getting really annoyed.  
  
"Yamcha! I'm not going to have this kind of language in my house!" Bulma scolded.  
  
"OH SHUT UP! Vegeta swears all the time and I don't hear you tellin' HIM to stop!" Yamcha yelled again.  
  
"That's different! He lives here!" Bulma said.  
  
"YOU KILLED TIEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chiaotzu shrieked again.  
  
"Ok that's enough people!" Bulma yelled. "Chiaotzu, shut up or else I'm sending you home. You're here to train, not cause problems." Bulma said. "And you Yamcha, bring Tien inside so he can recover." Bulma ordered.  
  
"Fine…" Yamcha said, picking up Tien and carrying him inside Capsule Corp.  
  
"Now, everyone, please be more careful…" Bulma said slowly.  
  
"Sorry…" Chiaotzu sniffed as he dried his eyes on the grass.  
  
"Chiaotzu, if you need a tissue, go get one. Don't ruin our grass!" Bulma said. 


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
*********  
  
After everything had clamed down, Trunks and Gohan were going to fight. To begin, Trunks did the hand motions for a Burning attack. Just as the light flashed, Gohan threw a Masenko Ha at Trunks. Easily moving out of the way, Trunks dodged it and then did a ki blast. Gohan grunted, as it narrowly missed him. They began fighting like crazy. The longer the combat went on, the faster the two got. Punch after punch, blow after blow. They were both so skilled, that very few punches actually got through and did some damage. Finally, after about a half an hour, Gohan seemed to be very drained of energy. He began moving slower and starting getting hit more often. As soon as Trunks noticed this, he immediately stopped, and said that it should be a draw. They both were exhausted, so they agreed to quit.  
  
  
  
Just as Trunks and Gohan walked over to where the three girls were standing, Yamcha came out with Tien, who was now conscious.   
  
"Hey! You did great!" Nicole congratulated. "You too Gohan!"   
  
"Yeah! You guys were awesome!" Angelica chimed in.  
  
"You did a great job of whippin' Tien's booty, Yamcha!" Leah said happily.  
  
"Thanks babe!" Yamcha replied. Suddenly, Leah swooned. As she fell to the ground, about to crack her head open on the rough cement below, Yamcha grabbed her.  
  
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!! YOU KILLED LEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chiaotzu screeched. Noticing the Yamcha had saved Leah, he quickly said, "Oopsie daisies…"   
  
"Was it something I said?" Yamcha asked.  
  
"Oh… heh heh heh… no…" Leah replied as she regained her balance.  
  
"So… who's gonna battle who now?" Angelica asked.  
  
"Um… well since Trunks and I had a draw… I guess one of us will battle Yamcha." Gohan said.  
  
"Which one of you?" Leah asked excitedly.  
  
"Uh… you can." Gohan said, looking at Trunks.  
  
"You sure?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Yeah. I'll fight with Piccolo." Gohan replied.  
  
"Alright." Trunks said, as he followed Yamcha into the middle of the yard.   
  
  
  
"Ok Trunks… BRING IT ON!!!!!!" Yamcha screamed.  
  
"You go, Yamcha!" Leah yelled from the porch.  
  
"You're in for it!" Trunks responded.  
  
"Whip him good Trunks! Whip him good!" Nicole cheered. The battle began. Yamcha aimed a Spirit Bomb attack at Trunks' face, but dodging it, he powered up to Super Saiyan and threw a Burning attack at him. "UGH! TAKE THAT!" Yamcha yelled as he struck Trunks with a forceful punch. "Right back at ya!" Trunks said back, as he jabbed his knee into Yamcha's stomach.  
  
  
  
Within the next few minutes, the spar too to the sky. "KAAAAAA MEEEEEEE HAAAAAAA MEEEEEEE HAAAAAAA!!!!!" Trunks screamed, as a huge blast of blue light shot from his hands. There were a few seconds of silence, as the brilliant pale light from Trunks' Kamehameha Wave filled the sky. Suddenly, without any warning, the light vanished. Yamcha had dodged the blast, as well as thrown it into space! "Oh wow! Yamcha's really gettin' good!" Gohan said as he and the others watched in shock.  
  
"I didn't know he was that strong…" Angelica said.  
  
"Don't give out now, Yamcha! You're doing great!" Leah cheered. After some more punches, kicks, and blasts, the duel returned back to the ground. However, the two were moving faster than ever. Nicole, Leah, and Angelica could hardly keep up!   
  
  
  
Meanwhile, Trunks did a Masenko Ha at Yamcha, which didn't do much. Yamcha began to get in some destructive hits, while Trunks tried his best to defend himself. Then, with an incredibly powerful thrust, Trunks jammed his fist into Yamcha's chest. Knocking the wind out of him, Trunks backed off, let him regain his energy. With that, the battle started again. Yamcha launched a Spirit Bomb attack at Trunks, but he did an Energy Shield to block it. Using the Zanzoken technique that Trunks had recently learned, he managed to confuse Yamcha, while he took time to catch his breath. Yamcha then quickly released a ki blast, carefully aiming it straight for Trunks. Narrowly missing it, Trunks rapidly shot out several ki blasts of his own to even out the score. "I'm going to end this now!" Yamcha yelled, as he let out another Spirit Bomb. Finally, Trunks did a forceful Burning attack, leaving Yamcha confused once more. Then, with an intense strike direct to the head, Trunks knocked him down into the ground.   
  
"No!!!" Leah cried, as she ran over to Yamcha, who was slowly getting up.  
  
"I'm ok…" he choked out, as Leah helped him stand up straight.   
  
"Wow Yamcha! You wouldn't have lasted that long against Trunks or any Super Saiyan before now! That battle was incredible!" Gohan said, as Leah helped Yamcha over to the porch.  
  
"I guess all that training really paid off…" Yamcha said, pleased with himself.   
  
"You did great!" Trunks complimented.  
  
"Yeah!" Nicole and Angelica agreed.  
  
  
  
Just then, Vegeta flew down from overhead. "Hey! You're back!" Bulma said happily, coming out from Capsule Corp. once again.  
  
"Great…" Tien murmured.  
  
"What was that Tien?" Vegeta asked annoyed, as he landed on the ground. Tien didn't answer. "Where did you go?" Bulma asked.  
  
"To find Jukuo." Vegeta answered. Everyone's eyes bulged. "To WHAT?!?!" Bulma asked.  
  
"I was looking for the last Dragon Ball! Since that idiot and his girlfriend were too scared to go get it from Jukuo, someone who was brave enough had to instead." Vegeta explained.  
  
"Did you get it?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Well… uh… um… ya see… I… um… couldn't find him! Yeah, that's it… I couldn't find him." Vegeta said nervously.  
  
"Well… why the heck are you beaten to a bloody pulp?" Bulma asked. It was so obvious that he was lying. "I… uh… um… got hit by a speeding bus on my way back!" Vegeta said.  
  
"Was it a… flying bus?" Trunks asked, knowing that Vegeta would have flown, so a bus couldn't have hit him.  
  
"Uh… well… ya see… I walked." He answered.  
  
"YOU WALKED TO FIND JUKUO?!?!" Chiaotzu asked beginning to laugh.  
  
"I… just… didn't want him to sense me coming!" Vegeta said.  
  
"HA HA HA! YOU'RE AFRAID OF JUKUO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chiaotzu screamed, as he fell to the ground with laughter.  
  
"ARG… SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vegeta yelled, as he darted toward Chiaotzu and punched him several times.  
  
"See Bulma! Vegeta cussed and you didn't yell at him…" Yamcha whined.  
  
"He lives here! Besides! Chiaotzu was being stupid!" Bulma answered.  
  
"HEY! Don't call Chiaotzu stupid!" Tien said.  
  
"OH SHUT UP! HE IS STUPID AND YOU KNOW IT!" Yamcha yelled. By now, Vegeta had practically killed Chiaotzu, until Tien ran over to save him. After quickly grabbing him, the two ran inside Capsule Corp., and into a corner to cry.  
  
  
  
After Tien and Chiaotzu had come back outside, and everything had calmed down again, Bulma made Vegeta and Yamcha apologize to Chiaotzu for being so mean. "Wow Chiaotzu… I'm REALLY sorry…" Yamcha said sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah… me too…" Vegeta added.  
  
"It's ok! I forgive you!" Chiaotzu grinned stupidly. He was so dense, that he couldn't even tell Yamcha and Vegeta weren't really sorry. Chiaotzu then grabbed both of them, and hugged them incredibly tightly. "UGH! LET GO OF ME YOU… YOU… YOU FAGGOT!!!!!!" Vegeta screamed at the top of his lungs.  
  
"LET GO!!!!!!!!" Yamcha cried.  
  
"Ohhhhhh! I just love you guys so much!" Chiaotzu said, squeezing them even harder. After a few seconds, Chiaotzu finally let go. "Ugh…" Vegeta grunted as he sat down to catch his breath. Yamcha sat down too, to recover from almost having the life squished out of him. "Is Chiaotzu always like this?" Leah whispered into Yamcha's ear.   
  
"Unfortunately… yes." He panted.   
  
After watching a few more battles, it began to softly rain. Then, the sprinkle turned into a thick storm, with howling winds. Since everyone had gone inside, Piccolo had decided to turn on the television to see what the heck was going on. He flipped to the weather channel, only to discover some shocking news. "The light rain that was predicted earlier today, has now turned into a dangerous monsoon!" explained the announcer.  
  
"What!? Monsoons only come in Asia!" Gohan said.  
  
"Scientists now believe that the evil killing monster that's loose on the streets might have something to do with this very abnormal weather." The announcer continued. "We advise you not to leave your house, because of the critical conditions outside."  
  
"Oh no! How are we gonna get home?" Leah asked worriedly.   
  
"Don't worry! You can spend the night here! I'm sure it'll be ok with your parents since you'd be at a huge risk if you tried to go home." Bulma said.  
  
"Could we? Really?" Angelica said excitedly.   
  
"Sure!" Bulma answered. "You three could sleep down here, in the living room."   
  
"Great! We'd better tell our parents though." Nicole said, walking over to the phone, to call her mom. She dialed the number, and her mom picked up. "Hello?"  
  
"Hey!" Nicole said into the receiver.  
  
"Oh hi Nicole! Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, but it looks like Leah, Angelica and I won't be able to come home for a while… is it ok with you if we spend the night here?"  
  
"Oh, of course! I wouldn't want you to try to drive home in these nasty conditions…"   
  
"Great. Don't worry about us, ok?"  
  
"Just be careful."  
  
"Yep!" With that, Nicole gave her mom the phone number to Capsule Corp., and let Leah and Angelica call their parents.  
  
  
  
After everything had been settled, Bulma went into the kitchen to make dinner. Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Vegeta, Tien, and Chiaotzu all sat around the TV, listening to the news broadcasting. "Are you sure we can't put the Teletubies on, Tien?" Chiaotzu whined.  
  
"SHHH!!! We're watchin' the news here!" Tien answered. Just then, the doorbell rang. Trunks opened the door, only to find Bra. "Bra! Why did you come home? Didn't you hear the news? No one's supposed to leave their houses!" he said.  
  
"I know but I left before it started raining!" Bra explained. Then, Bulma came rushing in. "Oh, Bra! Are you ok?" she asked nervously.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine!" she answered.  
  
"Where was she?" Angelica asked.  
  
"Oh, Bra went to her friend's house." Bulma clarified.   
  
"Oh…" Angelica answered, returning her attention back to the TV.  
  
After Bra took off her drenched jacket, she went upstairs to change her soaked clothes. A while later, she returned and sat down on the side of the sofa. "So, is Jukuo causing all of this screwed up weather?" she asked  
  
"Yeah… I don't have any idea how though…" Piccolo answered her.  
  
"Wow… he must be really strong if he can do this…" Bra said. "Not any bad guy has ever done something like this before…"  
  
"BULMA!!!!!!! CAN WE HAVE BEEF FOR DINNER!!!!????" Chiaotzu yelled loudly.  
  
"No! Everyone's having chicken!" she replied.  
  
"Oh… then can we have refried beans with it!?!?" Chiaotzu asked.  
  
"NO!!!!" Bulma answered.  
  
"FINE!!!! BE MEAN!!!" Chiaotzu answered sadly.  
  
"It's ok little buddy…" Tien said, giving Chiaotzu a comforting hug. 


	8. Chatper 7

Chapter 7  
  
*********  
  
Everyone watched the news until dinner was ready. The group gathered around the long dinning table, as Bra, Nicole, Leah, and Angelica all helped Bulma set out the food.  
  
"This looks really good…" Angelica said, her mouth watering.  
  
"Why, thank you!" Bulma answered cheerfully. Once everything was set out, they immediately dug in. It was delicious! Everything there had been prepared perfectly. The chicken, the green beans, the rice, everything. Trying to ignore the roaring storm outside, everyone carried on happy conversations. At that moment, Nicole realized how lucky she was. Although the world was in serious danger, she wasn't at all afraid. She had her two best friends by her side, a great boyfriend who had introduced her to so many new things, and she was spending a night with so many cool people. It's all happened so quickly… she thought smiling to herself. I'm glad though… after all… I've certainly waited long enough… Nicole was happy… no, she had passed happiness earlier. Now, she was beaming with joy.  
  
  
  
After dinner, Nicole, Leah, and Angelica offered to help Bulma with the dishes, as their thanks for the awesome asked curiously.  
  
"OH! So that's what the thing in the wall is for!" she replied. "No, I'm just kiddin'…"   
  
"Oh…" Leah answered.  
  
"I do use the dishwasher… it's just that we have to rinse off the dishes first…" Bulma explained.   
  
"Oh! I knew that… heh heh heh…" Leah replied embarrassed. After finishing the dishes, the four went out into the living room.   
  
"This is getting really boring…" Angelica muttered.  
  
"Hey! I know! Let's all play charades!" Leah suggested.  
  
"Great idea." Yamcha agreed. So… everyone played charades. Tien and Chiaotzu didn't want to play, so they went upstairs, to go to bed in the guestroom. Also, Vegeta didn't want to make a fool of himself, so he went upstairs too. Now, there were five guys and five girls… now they could have even teams, of guys against girls. Leah volunteered to go first. Bra came up with the first action… to act out the word 'beast'. Leah got down on her hands and knees, while Trunks, Yamcha, Gohan, Piccolo, and Krillin all sat down on the couch to watch. Leah began moving around like crazy, and making bizarre snarling noises. "Uh… A dog?" Krillin guessed.   
  
"No… that's way too easy. They wouldn't pick that…" Gohan said.  
  
"Um… some type of animal?" Piccolo guessed.  
  
"OH! I KNOW! KING KONG!" Yamcha yelled. Everyone couldn't help but laugh. "What about… a wolf?" Trunks asked. After a few more guesses, they got it. Then, Krillin got into the middle, and began to act out something that Gohan had chosen. He sat down, and then began moving his hands, in a way that looked like he was trying to squeeze something. "Oh! A horn!" Nicole said.  
  
"Milking a cow?!" Leah guessed.  
  
"Yep!" Krillin said, standing up.  
  
"Ewwwwww… what kinda sick action is that?" Bra asked.  
  
"Well don't look at me… Gohan thought of it." Krillin answered.  
  
"I was trying to choose something hard… that's all." Gohan explained.   
  
"Oh… right…" Bra answered.  
  
  
  
They all played a few more rounds of charades, and then got bored. "It's getting late… Bra, you should go to bed. There might be school tomorrow." Bulma said.  
  
"I doubt it… Jukuo seems unstoppable. Not to mention everyone's afraid to fight him… who knows when all the schools will reopen." Piccolo interrupted.  
  
"Oh… well, it's still getting late. C'mon Bra, bedtime." Bulma said again.  
  
"Oh, fine… Goodnight everyone." Bra said, as she slowly climbed upstairs.  
  
"I'm going to bed too now, so why don't I help you set up the sleeping bags?" Bulma said. "Trunks, you're ok with Piccolo and Krillin sleeping in your bed, right?"  
  
"Yeah!" Trunks nodded.  
  
"Ok, and you guys will all be ok down here, right?" she asked, looking at Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan.  
  
"Yeah!" they all answered.   
  
"Ok, then let's get the sleeping bags…" Bulma said, heading over to a nearby closet. She opened the door, and took out exactly six bags. "Ok, you should be all set now. If you need extra blankets, ask Trunks and he'll tell you where they are. Goodnight!" Bulma said tiredly. She seemed exhausted. "'Night mom!" Trunks said, as Bulma walked up stairs.  
  
"Well, Piccolo and I'm gonna go to bed too… goodnight!" Krillin said, following Bulma.  
  
"Yeah, good night!" said Piccolo, walking up the steps too.  
  
"Well… I guess we should set up the sleeping bags…" Trunks said.  
  
"Yeah…" Nicole replied. Everyone rolled out their bag. Once everything had been set up, they all sat down on their sleeping bags.   
  
"Ohhhhhh! Ya wanna know what we should play?!?!" Leah suddenly blurted out.  
  
"What?" Yamcha asked.  
  
"TRUTH OR DARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Leah yelled.  
  
"SHHHH!!!!!" Trunks said. "People are trying to sleep!"  
  
"Oh… right… sorry… anyways, it's been my favorite game since… since… like, forever." Leah declared.  
  
"Oh… yeah, ok let's play that." Yamcha said.  
  
"Ok." Nicole agreed.  
  
Since it was Leah's idea, she wanted to go first. "Ok… Trunks. Truth or dare?" she said.  
  
"Uh… dare." He answered confidently.  
  
"Ok… you have to… um… go stuff toilet paper up Tien and Chiaotzu's pants!" Leah said finally.  
  
"Ok, but you all have to come with me." Trunks said, laughing.  
  
"Ok…" they all agreed. Trunks went into the bathroom, grabbed a huge wad of toilet paper, and lead the group upstairs. They quietly tiptoed into the guestroom that Tien and Chiaotzu were in. "Ok guys, we have to be really quiet. If we wake up anyone… we'll all be in for it." Trunks whispered, as he slowly lifted up the covers. Suddenly, Chiaotzu grunted, and mumbled, "Ugh… hang on clink clink…" Then, rolling over, he muttered, "Beans, beans… they're good for the heart… the more you eat… the more you…" Chiaotzu rolled over again, putting his face down on the pillow so the rest was muffled.   
  
"Good. Now I won't have to roll him over myself." Trunks whispered happily. He lifted up the back Chiaotzu's pants. Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha, and Gohan all couldn't help but giggle. "Oh my God…" Trunks mumbled as he stuffed some toilet paper down Chiaotzu's pants. "UGH… let go of me Tien… I told you I'm watchin' Bob the Builder…" Chiaotzu grumbled as Trunks stuffed more toilet paper into his pants. Once he had finished, Chiaotzu looked like he had been stung by a thousand bees, and had had an extremely severe allergic reaction. "Now for Tien…" Trunks said, moving to the other side of the bed. He carefully lifted up the back of Tien's pants, and grabbed another wad of toilet paper, and began furiously stuffing it into Tien's pants. "Oh Chiaotzu… not now… can't ya see I'm listening to Frank Sinatra" Tien groaned as he rolled over. Trunks quickly let go of his pants, knowing that he could wake up any second. "Oh no…" Trunks said.   
  
"Go away… I don't wanna play kick the can…" Tien mumbled. Everyone had to suppress their laughter, or else the whole house would be woken up by the sound of shrill giggles. "No Chiaotzu… I don't want to play ring around the rosy either…"  
  
Trunks quickly grabbed the last of the toilet paper, and crammed it into Tien's pants. "There… finished." He whispered proudly.   
  
"Look… if you leave me alone I'll play hopscotch with you later…" Tien muttered as the six walked out of the room.  
  
Once they got downstairs again, Trunks said, "Ok, now it's my turn. I pick… Angelica. Truth or dare?"  
  
"Uh… truth." She answered.   
  
"Ok, if you have to save five people from a burning building, and you could only pick one, who would it be? Me, Nicole, Leah, Yamcha, or Gohan?" Trunks said.  
  
"Uh… probably… YOU!" Angelica said grinning.  
  
"ME?!" Trunks asked, astonished.  
  
"WHAT?!?! YOU WOULDN'T SAVE ME?!?!" Leah and Gohan yelled in unison, as their hands balled into fists and they began beating Angelica.  
  
"Hey! Trunks is MINE! You have Gohan!" Nicole angrily yelled, as she joined Leah and Gohan.   
  
"Wow… I thought she'd save Gohan for sure…" Yamcha said leaning backward onto the couch.   
  
"Yeah, me too…" Trunks agreed. Meanwhile, Nicole, Leah and Gohan had ganged up on Angelica, and when she finally managed to choke out, "Hey guys! Chill out! I was only kidding!" she almost had a bloody nose.  
  
"Seriously?" Leah asked, as she stopped beating her up.  
  
"Yeah! I would really save Gohan!" Angelica repeated.  
  
"Yay!" Gohan said happily.  
  
"Oh!" Nicole said, returning to her sleeping bag with everyone else.  
  
"You still wouldn't have saved me?" Leah asked.  
  
"Oh Leah, it's not like it's ever gonna really happen…" Angelica said, trying to change the subject.  
  
"Ok, whatever." Leah said.  
  
"Now… I choose… Yamcha. Truth or dare?" Angelica asked, looking at him.  
  
"Uh… dare." Yamcha responded.  
  
"Ok, I dare you too… um… oh! I dare you to spend seven minutes in heaven with Leah!" Angelica said, with a sly grin on her face.  
  
"You want me and Leah to make out in a closet for seven minutes?!?!" Yamcha asked. Angelica nodded. "Oh, c'mon Yamcha! It'll be… fun!" Leah said, getting up.  
  
"Go in that closet, ok? It's half empty… just coats." Trunks said, pointing to the closet near the front door.  
  
"I wanna time it." Angelica said.  
  
"Here, use my watch…" Gohan said, taking off his watch, and handing it to Angelica. After putting in the seven minutes, Leah and Yamcha went into the closet and closed the door.  
  
"Ugh… I can barely breathe in here…" Yamcha complained.  
  
"Don't worry… you won't really need to…" Leah whispered softly, smiling.   
  
"Ok, are you two ready?" Angelica asked.  
  
"Yep!" Leah said.  
  
"Ok… ready… go!" Angelica said, pressing the start button on Gohan's watch.   
  
The seven minutes went by very slowly. At first, it seemed more like seven hours! For the first two minutes or so, it was very quiet. Nicole, Trunks, Angelica, and Gohan sat on the couch in complete silence.  
  
"I wonder what's goin' on in there…" Nicole asked, breaking the silence.  
  
"Well, they're probably makin' out…" Angelica answered sarcastically.  
  
"No, really? I know that. It's just… so quiet." Nicole replied. A few minutes later, some weird noises could be heard coming from the closet. After hearing a loud, startling crash, Trunks said, "Oh God… I hope they didn't knock down the rack that the coats were hanging on…"  
  
Then, after a few soft grunts, the seven minutes had ended. Angelica walked over to the closet door, knocked on it, and said, "Ok guys, the seven minutes are up!"   
  
Leah opened the door, and walked out. Her face was slightly flushed. Yamcha followed her, with a look of absolute pleasure. "Oh my God Leah, I had no idea your were such an incredibly impressive kisser!" Yamcha said, as they both sat down on their sleeping bags. Leah's face turned even redder. "You too." She complimented back.   
  
"Thanks." Yamcha said. "Now it's my turn… I pick… Nicole! Truth or dare?" he asked.  
  
"Ok… dare." She answered.  
  
"I dare you to… to stick your foot in the toilet!" Yamcha said.  
  
"EWWWWWWW! That's nasty!" Nicole answered, disgusted.  
  
"C'mon! You have to!" Leah urged.  
  
"Oh fine… I will." Nicole said, standing up. She made her way over to the bathroom, and walked in. after lifting up the toilet seat, and taking her sock off, she said, "Ok… here goes…" as everyone watched. Nicole bit her lip, as she slowly dipped her foot into the cool water. "Ugh… this is nasty…" Nicole said, moving her foot around in the toilet. "Ok, I think that's enough…" she said, taking her foot out. After drying it off, the six returned to the living room again.  
  
"Now… I pick… Gohan. Truth or dare?" Nicole said.  
  
"Truth." Gohan answered.  
  
"Have you ever kissed a girl?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Umm… yeah…" he responded.  
  
"Who?" Angelica questioned.  
  
"My mommy!" Gohan said, as he burst out laughing.  
  
"No really… who?" Angelica asked again.  
  
"Ya wanna know who?" Gohan asked grinning.  
  
"Yes! Tell us!" Angelica said.  
  
"…YOU!!!!!!!!!" Gohan screamed, as he grabbed Angelica and began French kissing her.  
  
"Gohan! Get a hold of yourself!" Angelica yelled, trying to get him to stop.  
  
"Oh… sorry…" Gohan said, his face burning with complete embarrassment. "Must've been the hormones… heh heh heh…" Gohan said, trying to explain his behavior.   
  
"Well don't ever do it again out in the open!" Angelica said nervously. She seemed to be just as mortified as he was.   
  
"Sorry… I just couldn't help myself…" Gohan apologized.   
  
"It's ok Gohan… I kinda enjoyed it…" Angelica assured smiling.  
  
"Anyway, it's my turn now. I pick… Leah." Truth or dare?" Gohan said, returning to the game.  
  
"Dare, baby, dare!" Leah said laughing.  
  
"Ok, um… I dare you to… lick Yamcha's feet!" Gohan said, starting to crack up.   
  
"Ok…" Leah said, laughing too.  
  
"Oh geeze…" Yamcha said, taking off his sock. He held his foot up, and Leah began licking it. Once she had finished, and Yamcha had put his sock back on, the group decided to go to sleep, since it was almost 2:00 in the morning. They all got into their sleeping bags, and after saying goodnight to each other, the six quickly fell asleep. 


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
*********  
  
During the night, Nicole awoke startled. It was either the sound of the rain that seemed to fall like bullets, or the awful nightmare she had had. She dreamt that Jukuo had killed everyone on the planet, and the only ones that were left, were her and Trunks. Trunks and Jukuo fought the toughest battle ever, and when Jukuo killed Trunks, there was nothing Nicole could do except watch in complete horror. Silently begging that her dream would never come true, Nicole wiped away the drop of sweat that had trickled down her forehead. She looked around, remembering how real her dream had seemed. She looked at Trunks' sleeping bag next to her. He looked so calm, sound asleep. It was hard for Nicole to think that he was going to challenge Jukuo, and try to kill him. But as she looked at Trunks lying there, she also realized how grateful she was for finding such an incredible guy. Nicole's dry throat tore her from her deep thoughts. She got up slowly, and made her way to the kitchen. She almost tripped over everyone's sleeping bags on the way. When she had finally reached the kitchen. Her eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness. She grabbed a cup, and filled it with ice-cold water. Nicole took a few gulps. It felt great against her parched throat. She finished her water, put the cup in the sink, and walked back into the living room. On her way back to her sleeping bag, she passed Gohan's, Angelica's, Leah's, Yamcha's…   
  
"Holy crap!" Nicole whispered, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets. She couldn't believe what she saw. Leah's sleeping bag was totally empty, and from the look of Yamcha's, there was defiantly more than one person inside! The sleeping bag was completely zipped tight - all four sides were shut. After staring at it for a while longer, Nicole finally realized that the bag was moving. She could hear rustling sounds coming from inside. Nicole could only imagine what Leah and Yamcha could be doing. Suddenly, the bag rolled onto Angelica's. "What the hell…?" Angelica said tiredly. She always cursed when she wasn't fully awake. She stood up to get a good look at what had woken her up. Noticing Nicole, she asked dumbfounded, "Is that Leah and Yamcha?!?!"  
  
"I think so…" Nicole nodded slowly.  
  
"Unzip it." Angelica said.  
  
"No! Why don't you?" Nicole whispered.  
  
"'Cause! Who knows what could be goin' on inside!" Angelica responded.  
  
"Which is exactly why I'm not going to unzip the sleeping bag!" Nicole said. The two argued a little longer about who was going to open the sleeping bag, until Nicole convinced Angelica to. She slowly bent down and started feeling around the corners of the bag for the zipper. Nicole heard a loud grunt from inside. She bit her lip, wondering how Leah and Yamcha were going to explain what they were doing. Angelica then found the zipper, and slowly unzipped the top of the sleeping bag. She jumped back, as soon as she was done. "Oh my God!" Angelica whispered, as Leah and Yamcha popped out from inside.   
  
"…Um… hey guys!" Yamcha said tensely. "What's up?"   
  
Leah was speechless. It was obvious that she had no clue that anyone was going to catch them.  
  
"What the heck are you doing?" Angelica asked.  
  
"Uh… Yamcha and I were… having a little sleepover of our own…" Leah explained. Yamcha look wide-eyed at her. It was easy to see that he had no idea she was going to admit the truth. Yamcha nudged Leah with his leg. "Why'd you tell them?" Yamcha mouthed.  
  
"They're not gonna get mad or anything…" Leah softly said, shrugging.   
  
"Yeah, but this isn't the kind of thing that you admit to doing!" Yamcha whispered. Leah simply shrugged her shoulders again. "Anyway…" Leah said, turning back to Nicole and Angelica, "I'm… gonna go back into my own sleeping back now…"   
  
"Uh… ok…" Nicole said, still confused. Leah slowly crawled out from under the covers, and slid into her own sleeping bag. "What's going on…?" Trunks asked sleepily as he sat up.  
  
"Leah was in Yamcha's sleeping bag." Angelica blurted out. Trunks' eyes widened. "What?" he asked confused.  
  
"Yeah…" Leah confessed. Angelica walked over to a small lamp that sat on a table, and clicked it on. A dim light filled the room, bringing everyone's faces fully into view. Then, Gohan groaned and rolled over. "What?" he tiredly questioned, as he slowly opened his eyes. Now that everyone was awake, it was going to be hard to go back to sleep. Nicole, who was still standing, plopped down on her sleeping bag with a sigh. "What happened?" Gohan asked, sitting up.  
  
"Leah was in Yamcha's sleeping bag." Nicole explained. He looked at Leah, then at Yamcha, and said, "Oh… right…"  
  
"Well, everyone's up now…" Nicole whispered.  
  
"It's 3:10…" Gohan said, looking at his watch. "I had this really weird dream…" he continued.   
  
"About what?" Angelica asked, sitting down on her sleeping bag.  
  
"Well… my dad, Goku, and I were fishing… and we saw Jukuo float by on a multi-colored flying plunger… then he jumped down, and started drinking a cup of tea…" Gohan said beginning to laughing.  
  
"Oh my God!" Yamcha said laughing too.  
  
"Then… he asked us if we wanted to go for a ride, and we said yes, we all got onto his plunger thing, and we flew around for a while. Then we all went to the mall, but it was really weird 'cause the mall was all dark, like it was closed. Then I woke up."  
  
"You seriously had a dream about that?" Leah asked.  
  
"Yeah…" Gohan replied. Then, it got very quiet. "So… what are we gonna do about Jukuo?" Angelica asked.  
  
"Well, we're gonna train as much as possible, and then go whip his butt!" Yamcha said energetically.   
  
"But… what if he won't fight?" Leah asked.  
  
"Oh, he will… just like Cell, Frieza, Garlic Jr. and every other enemy we've ever fought, I'm sure he has the same kind of competitive blood flowing through his veins… he'll look for a fight…" Gohan explained.  
  
"What if everyone gets killed and he does take over the world?" Nicole questioned.   
  
"We can't think that way. We'll be able to beat him… I don't want to underestimate him, but exactly how strong can Namekian like him be?" Trunks said.  
  
"I remember when Piccolo fused with Kami a few years ago… but even after that he wasn't strong enough to beat the androids…" Gohan said.  
  
"I always though that Piccolo was the strongest Namek, but now that I've had the chance to feel Jukuo's power, I'm not so sure…" Trunks said.  
  
"Me neither…" Yamcha agreed.  
  
"And now that he has the six-stared Dragon Ball, that could mean even more trouble…" Trunks continued.  
  
"UGH… If I could just go Super Saiyan level three! Then maybe I'd be able to beat him…" Gohan said angrily.  
  
"Don't worry… I know you can do it." Angelica encouraged.  
  
"She's right you know…" Trunks said. "If any of us are going to go Super Saiyan level three first, it's probably gonna be you." Trunks said.  
  
"I hope… then you'll defiantly be the second one to do it." Gohan assured.   
  
"It's just so hard though…" Trunks said.  
  
"Yeah, but I know we'll be able to do it." Gohan said.   
  
"Exactly how are we gonna get the Dragon Ball back from Jukuo?" Leah asked.  
  
"We're gonna hopefully destroy him, then take it, and wish back all the people that he's killed." Yamcha explained.  
  
"Oh…" Leah answered.  
  
"One of the biggest problems we have, is that we have no idea how long we have to train before we have to battle him…" Yamcha said.  
  
"Hey… why don't we use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Gohan suggested.  
  
"Whoah… hang on a second what the heck is the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Yeah…?" Leah and Angelica questioned.  
  
"Oh! It's a room where you can get in a year of training in just one day… one day in our world, is one year in that dimension." Gohan said.  
  
"When I went back in time, I trained there, and that's when I first was able to go Super Saiyan level two!" Trunks said.  
  
"Hey guys, that could really make a difference!" Yamcha said happily.  
  
"Ok, so we should go as soon as possible, to get in a lot of training time." Gohan said."There's probably not gonna be any school tomorrow like Piccolo said, so we can go then."  
  
"We'd be able to come… right?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Yeah! Of course!" Trunks said smiling.  
  
"But there's three of us… either one will have to go in alone, or we'll have to find another sparring partner…" Yamcha pointed out.  
  
"Well… one of us could… go in with… Vegeta…" Gohan said cautiously.  
  
"You've gotta be kidding! When I went in there with him…" Trunks began.  
  
"Well, you did manage to surpass him and go Super Saiyan level two, right?" Yamcha asked.   
  
"Yeah, but I had no help from him…" Trunks answered. "Anyway, I'm not going to spend another year with him in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."  
  
"Ok, how about you two go in together, and I'll go in alone?" Yamcha implied.  
  
"Ok, but are you sure that you'll be ok by yourself?" Gohan asked.  
  
"Yeah! In fact, I think I can become stronger that way. You two can go first." Yamcha said.  
  
"Ok." Trunks agreed.   
  
"Then it's settled. Tomorrow, we'll go to Mr. Popo's tower, and use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Gohan clarified. "It's almost 3:30… we should get some sleep…" he advised, looking at his watch.  
  
"Yeah…" everyone agreed. Nicole got up, and turned the light off. Then, her, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan all got into their sleeping bags. Soon, it became quiet again, and the six fell asleep. Noticing that Trunks was starring at the ceiling, Nicole softly whispered, "Hey Trunks…?" He turned to look at her. "Yeah?" he said.  
  
"Do you think we have a chance of destroying Jukuo?" she asked.   
  
"I hope so… everything just seems so hopeless right now… I mean, school's cancelled because of him, he caused a huge hurricane… I really think that we've found something that can give us the upper hand on Jukuo. I just hope it works…" he answered.  
  
"…Me too…" Nicole whispered. With that, she closed her eyes, and fell asleep.  
  
The next thing Nicole knew, was that she and everyone else was awoken by an earsplitting, blood-curdling shriek. "Oh my God!" Trunks yelled, as he noticed Bra lying at the bottom of the steps. "Bra! What happened?!?!" Trunks demanded. By now, Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha, and Gohan were fully awake. "It's 5:40…" Gohan announced.  
  
"I… I was… coming downstairs… and… and I tripped…" Bra choked out. She was clutching her wrist. Then, Bulma came running down the flight of steps to see what was going on. "Ohhh… my wrist…" Bra moaned. Leah walked over to the light, and turned it on. "Oh my God!" Bulma exclaimed nervously. Bra's wrist seemed to be swelling more and more by the second. Then Piccolo ran down the steps wearing a pair of Vegeta's bunny-footed pajamas, with his old smelly, never-been-washed drooled on, chewed up blanket that he got when he was a little baby Namekian, by his good friend (or as Piccolo would say, his 'old man') Kami, screaming, "BBBBUUUULLLLLMMMMAAAA!!!! I HAD AN ACCIDENT!!!"   
  
"It's ok Piccolo… We'll clean it up later… right now Bra's having a little problem…" she said.  
  
"Ok…" Piccolo said, sitting down on a chair. "PICCCOOOLLLOOOO!!!! You forgot your retainer!" Chiaotzu yelled, running down the steps.  
  
"Thanks, man! I owe ya one!" Piccolo said, as Chiaotzu dashed down the steps, and chucked the retainer to him. Once he had put it in his mouth, he noticed Chiaotzu was looking at him in a rather bizarre way. "Piccolo… am I now a man? Now can you read me that story you and Master Roshi were reading last week? The one called, 'Winnie the Pooh's Adult Adventures'?" Chiaotzu questioned.  
  
"You can read it yourself." Piccolo said shortly.   
  
"But Piccolo! You know about my condition…" Chiaotzu said, wide eyed.   
  
"What condition?" he asked.  
  
"You know I can't read!" he cried.  
  
"Oh… you been hanging around with Mr. Popo too much little man…"  
  
"Well, I'm goin' back to bed now. Nighty night!" Chiaotzu said, yawning, and going back down the hallway.  
  
"Yeah, me too. Goodnight!" Piccolo said, following Chiaotzu. Just then, Chiaotzu turned around, quivered, and said, "Hey, you sexy Namek!" and began spanking Piccolo.   
  
"DUDE! STOP IT! STOP IT, I SAY!" Piccolo yelled, whacking Chiaotzu on the head. "OH! Sorry! Sudden urge… heh heh heh…" Chiaotzu nervously laughed. The two then continued down the hallway, and into the rooms they had come from.  
  
"Oh… I hope it's not broken…" Bulma said, helping Bra to the couch.  
  
"I'd say that by the look of it… it's defiantly broken." Gohan said.  
  
"Trunks, get her some ice!" Bulma ordered.  
  
"Ok…" Trunks said, going into the kitchen and returning with an ice pack. Once the ice had been on Bra's wrist for a while, Bulma said, "I'm going to take her to the hospital. It looks really bad." Now her wrist had turned a purplish shade of brown. "Ewwwwww… it looks nasty… " Bra whined, as she removed the ice to examine her bloated wrist. Bulma dashed up stairs, changed, and came back down.  
  
"Hey, don't I get to change?" Bra asked.  
  
"Fine, as long as you don't hurt your wrist… it's bruised badly enough." Bulma warned. A few minutes later, Bra returned from her room. Then, her and Bulma left. "When Vegeta gets up, tell him what happened, ok Trunks?" Bulma called, just before she shut the door. Trunks nodded and said, "Yeah, ok!" Then, Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan watched as Bulma's car drive away.  
  
"Oh my God, I hope she's ok…" Leah said tensely.  
  
"Yeah… me too…" Nicole said.  
  
"Don't worry… I know she will… she's been through much worse… once one of her tendons in her leg snapped, and she had to have doctors operate on it… it was nasty…" Trunks explained.  
  
"Ewwwwww!" Nicole, Leah, and Angelica all made disgusted faces.  
  
The six all decided to stay up. After all… it was 6:00! There wasn't really any point in going back to sleep. They had had an exciting night. "So… what do you guys wanna do?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Oh… I'm… low…" Leah said, her eyes drowsily rolling.  
  
"You're what?" Yamcha questioned, confused.  
  
"I'm low… oh! Sorry! I never told you guys! I have diabetes…" Leah explained.  
  
"Oh… uh… what the heck is that?" he asked.  
  
"It's just a minor disease…" she said  
  
"I still don't get what it is…" Yamcha said, shaking his head.  
  
"Ok well, it's this disease where your pancreas-"  
  
"Is that the thing in your body that makes you go to the bathroom?" Yamcha interrupted.  
  
"No." answered Leah. "Anyways, mine doesn't work anymore so I have to manually give myself insulin and I have to control my blood sugar with the insulin and if I don't, I will DIE." Leah said, slightly rolling her head.   
  
"Oh…" Yamcha replied.  
  
"It's a good thing I brought my kit… I'm gonna go get it." Leah said, slowly getting up. She stumbled into the kitchen, mumbling to herself. "She looks drunk!" Angelica giggled.  
  
"Oh my God… I wonder how low she is…" Nicole asked nervously. Leah acted really weird when she was extremely low. When she had returned, she sat down on the blanket of everyone's sleeping bags and began setting up to test her blood sugar level. "Ohhhhhh… look at my pretty number…" Leah said, slumping her head down.  
  
"Holy crud!" Yamcha said, grabbing the meter off Leah's lap. "It says, 'To low for the meter to tell'!" he announced. "Is that good?"  
  
"Heck no!" Nicole said, grabbing Leah and shaking her. She fell backward lifelessly. "Oh my God! She's fainted!" Nicole shrieked as she began to panic.  
  
"Quick! Call 911!" Gohan screamed.  
  
"I will!" Angelica yelled, running over to the window. She opened it, and screeched at the top of her lungs, "911! 911! Calling 911!!!!!"  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" Gohan asked.  
  
"Oh! Sorry! I was lost in a moment of shock…" Angelica explained. She ran into the kitchen and screamed, "Where the heck is the phone?!?!"  
  
"It's on the wall!" Trunks yelled. He was obviously getting just as freaked-out as everyone else. Then, the shock of Leah possibly having to go to the hospital finally hit Yamcha, and he passed out. Meanwhile, Nicole began slapping Leah on the face. She had totally and completely lost control. "Trunks! Go get some sugar!" Nicole ordered.  
  
"Sugar?" he questioned.  
  
"Yes! She needs sugar!" said Nicole.  
  
"Ok…" Trunks responded, running into the kitchen. When he got there, Angelica was talking on the phone. "So… this isn't 911?" she asked.  
  
"No! This is the president of the United States of America! How may I serve your needs?" said the voice on the receiver.  
  
"Are you sure?" Angelica asked again.  
  
"Yes I am! How can I help you?" said the voice.  
  
"Umm… bye!" Angelica said, hanging up the phone.   
  
"Did you call the president?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Uh… I just got the wrong number…" Angelica said.  
  
"Oh…" Trunks answered as he opened up the cabinet to get some sugar. Angelica dialed 911 again, and this time she got it right. "You have reached 911. What is your emergency?" said the person who had picked up the phone.  
  
"Oh, hi! Um… we have a diabetic who's passed out due to a lack of sugar." Angelica said.  
  
"What's your loca-" the operator's voice became very faint. Static filled the phone line. "Hello? Hello?!?!" Angelica said into the phone. Suddenly, the line went dead. Angelica hung up, and dialed the number a third time. "Hello?" said the voice.  
  
"Hi! Is this 911?" Angelica asked hopefully.  
  
"Oh, no… sorry. This is Kerri McHona." Said the person.  
  
"K-Kerri McHona?!?! From… Crystal Clear?!?!" Angelica asked in shock.  
  
"Yep!" answered Kerri.  
  
"Holy-" Angelica fainted.  
  
"Hello?" said the voice.  
  
"Angelica!" Trunks said putting down the cup of sugar he had taken, and ran over to her.  
  
"Oh great…" he said, realizing she had passed out. He hung up the phone, grabbed the sugar, and went back into the living room. "Oh my God!" Trunks said, noticing that Nicole and Gohan had passed out too. He put the cup down on the coffee table, and went over to Nicole. Trunks began shaking her, trying to wake her up. "Oh… c'mon…" he said as he stood up. Just then, Vegeta appeared at the top of the steps. "What the heck is going on?" he asked annoyed.  
  
"Oh God… Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha and Gohan have all passed out!" Trunks quickly said, as he grabbed the sugar and started to feed it to Leah.   
  
"Why?" Vegeta questioned as he walked down the steps.  
  
"Well… Leah was low, 'cause she has diabetes and Nicole and the others fainted from shock." Trunks said pouring sugar into Leah's mouth.  
  
"Where's Bulma?" he asked.  
  
"She took Bra to the hospital." Trunks answered, as he continued to dump the sugar down Leah's throat.   
  
"Why? What happened?" Vegeta asked as he reached the bottom of the steps.  
  
"We think she broke her wrist… she fell down the steps." Trunks explained.  
  
"Oh. So that's what that huge crash was…" Vegeta said.  
  
"Look… can you get me some more sugar?" Trunks asked, dumping the last of the sugar into Leah's open mouth.  
  
"No…" Vegeta answered.  
  
"Well, then can you try to wake up Nicole, Angelica, Yamcha, or Gohan?" Trunks asked as he picked up Leah and put her on the couch.  
  
"Why should I bother helping you?" Vegeta questioned rudely.  
  
"Well, because if mom comes back and everyone is unconscious, she's gonna get mad at you for not helping!" Trunks explained.  
  
"Well, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, or Piccolo can help. I'm going back to bed." Vegeta said, walking back up the steps.  
  
"Wait! You're helping me wake them up then!" Trunks responded as he ran up to Vegeta.  
  
  
  
Once they had reached the guestroom that Tien and Chiaotzu were sleeping in, Trunks walked over to Tien's side and started shaking him. "Tien! Wake up!" Trunks whispered.  
  
"See the piggies?" Tien murmured quietly.  
  
"What the…" Vegeta said, giving Tien a weird look.  
  
"Wake up Tien! We need you!" Trunks said again.  
  
"Look… they've got the mad cow disease… I like BIG BUTTS and I cannot lie…" Tien groaned, rolling over. Trunks, hearing the rustling of the toilet paper that he had put in his pants earlier, began to laugh. "Ugh… how retarded…" Vegeta said. Trunks moved to the other side of the bed, and began shaking Chiaotzu. "Mix that concrete…" Chiaotzu mumbled.   
  
"Ok, I don't think we're gonna be able to wake either of them up." Trunks said annoyed. The two went into the room across the hall, where Piccolo and Krillin were sleeping. After numerous failed attempts to wake them up, Trunks walked out of the room and said, "C'mon dad… you have to help me!"  
  
"FINE. But only 'cause I don't want Bulma to be pissed at me." Vegeta agreed. The father and son duo went down stairs. "Ok, lie everyone down on their sleeping bags." Trunks directed. Once Nicole, Leah, Yamcha, and Gohan had all been laid down, and Angelica was carried out from the kitchen and onto her sleeping bag, Trunks and Vegeta sat down on the couch with heavy sighs. "So… now what?" Vegeta asked.  
  
"We wait… Leah should wake up fast, 'cause now she has sugar in her system. Nicole, Angelica, Gohan, and Yamcha should come around soon… they only fainted from shock." Trunks said.  
  
"Great…" Vegeta complained. "I don't wanna sit here for nine hours…"  
  
"It's probably not gonna take nine hours… more like thirty minutes…" Trunks responded. Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Ever heard of sarcasm?" Vegeta said. Trunks ignored him.   
  
  
  
After waiting a while in muteness, Trunks and Vegeta heard Leah groan. She sat up drowsily, and looked around. "What happened?" she asked blinking.   
  
"You had a low blood sugar… you fainted, along with Nicole, Angelica, Yamcha, and Gohan." Trunks explained.  
  
"Oh…" Leah answered, still not sure what had happened. A few minutes later, the other four woke up, and after Trunks explained what had happened, Vegeta went back to bed, and the group decided to make breakfast. About thirty minutes later, after the six finished eating, Bulma walked through the front door, followed by Bra. She had a thick cast on her wrist. "We're back!" Bulma declared.  
  
"How's Bra's wrist?" Trunks asked.  
  
"It's broken…" Bra answered in a disappointed voice. "Now… my wrist is broken and everyone's gonna be fighting. This year is gonna be my worst birthday ever…"  
  
"Mom… Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Yamcha, Gohan, and I are going to Mr. Popo's tower to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Trunks said putting a plate into the sink.  
  
"Oh, is your father going too?" Bulma asked, sitting down at the table.  
  
"Uhhh… probably not…" Trunks said  
  
"Ok…" she answered.  
  
"Can we go back to our houses to change?" Leah asked.  
  
"Uhhh… I guess that'd be ok…" Trunks said. "Just don't take too long…"  
  
"Don't worry… we won't." Nicole assured.  
  
  
  
With that, the group left for everyone's houses. They got into one of Bulma's jet planes, and took off to Angelica's house first, since it was closest. "Ok guys, wait here. I'll be out really soon, ok?" Angelica said, walking up the steps to her house. About fifteen minutes later, she came out, wearing a tank top, striped with different shades of green, with long denim bellbottoms. "My house is next…" Leah said, as everyone piled back into the jet. Once they reached Leah's she went inside and came back out wearing an orange three-quarter sleeved shirt with khaki jeans. Last, was Nicole's house. Once they got there and Nicole had gone inside, she changed into the lavender shirt she had bought at the mall that said 'princess'. Then, after pulling on some light blue denim bellbottoms, she left her bedroom. Just as Nicole was about to walk out the door, her mom stopped her and said, "Hey, don't I get a 'hello'?  
  
"Hi! I gotta go… Leah, Angelica, Trunks, Yamcha, Gohan, and me are going to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train. I'll be back Thursday afternoon, ok? See ya!" she said, walking out the front door. Nicole's mom looked at her, puzzled. She had no clue what the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was, or why Nicole would be back so late.  
  
  
  
"Ok, now we go to Mr. Popo's tower, right?" Nicole asked, hopping into the jet after she had reached the bottom of her driveway.  
  
"Yep." Trunks said, turning the engine on, after she shut the door.  
  
"So… exactly where is this place?" Leah asked curiously.   
  
"It's this place in the sky!" Yamcha said.  
  
"Oh… does it like… float or something?!?!" Angelica questioned, beginning laugh.   
  
"Uhhh… kinda… it's connected to these other peoples' house… that's where Korin lives. He's this white cat dude. He's really useful for sensing power levels. Oh! And Yajirobe lives there too. He's this really fat guy who gives us senzu beans…" Gohan said beginning to laugh. "Anyway, it does kinda float… although it doesn't follow the laws of gravity very well…" Gohan finished.  
  
"Cool! A floating tower!" Nicole said excitedly, looking out her window.  
  
  
  
"Is that it?!?!" Angelica asked about twenty minutes later.   
  
"Yup!" Gohan answered. Nicole looked out the window. She saw a long wire, attached to a small tower. That must be where Korin and Yajirobe live… she thought. Then, the jet plane tilted upward. She leaned back in her seat. Her eyes followed the wire that led up to a huge round platform. The sides were covered with a colorful combination of red, blue, and yellow patterns. The jet zoomed up and over the edge of the circled platform. "We're here!" Gohan exclaimed.  
  
"Oh my God…" Leah said, looking out her window, as the plane slowly landed. Once the jet had come to a halt, everyone stood up and climbed out. "Oh! Hello!" a voice said excitedly. "Trunks! Gohan! Yamcha! It's been so long!"  
  
"Dende!" Gohan said happily. "What's up?"  
  
"Oh… nothing much… so, how's life going for you?" Dende asked.   
  
"Who's he?" Nicole asked quietly.  
  
"Oh, he's the guardian of the earth. He watches over the people… he's a Namekian like Piccolo. He and Gohan were really good friends when they were younger." Trunks explained.  
  
"Oh…" Nicole nodded.   
  
"Ah! Hello!" said another unfamiliar voice.   
  
"Hey! Mr. Popo! What's happening?" Yamcha greeted. Mr. Popo was very strange looking. He was completely black, with enormous bright red lips and wore a white turban on his head. "So, who are these three?" Mr. Popo asked, looking at Nicole, Leah, and Angelica.  
  
"Oh, these are our girlfriends… Nicole…" Trunks said.  
  
"Leah…" Yamcha explained.  
  
"…and Angelica." said Gohan pointing to her.  
  
"Oh! I'm pleased to meet you." Mr. Popo cheerfully said. Dende just nodded and smiled.  
  
"I know why you're here. So, who's going into the room first?" he asked.  
  
"Me and Gohan." Trunks replied.  
  
"Alright then… are you two ready to go now?" Mr. Popo asked.  
  
"Yep!" Gohan assured.  
  
"For a day, correct?" he asked, leading the group to the huge wooden door that led to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.  
  
"Yeah." Trunks answered.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" Trunks said.  
  
"Yeah, ok. Good luck!" Nicole said, kissing him.  
  
"Bye Angelica! See you soon!" Gohan waved.  
  
"See ya! Train hard, ok?" Angelica said, kissing him too. The two walked through the door, and into the bright white light. 


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
*********  
  
"So what are we gonna do until tomorrow?" Angelica asked.  
  
"I dunno…" Nicole sighed.  
  
"Oh! You can help me water my chrysanthemums!" Mr. Popo excitedly suggested.   
  
"Uh… no. That's ok…" Leah said, sitting down against a wall.  
  
"Really…" Nicole added.  
  
"Oh… are you sure? I really would love it if you-"  
  
"Positive." Angelica interrupted.  
  
"Really?" Mr. Popo begged.  
  
"Really!" Yamcha yelled.  
  
"Are you sure? 'Cause-"  
  
"YES!!!" the four screamed in unison.  
  
"Ok…" Mr. Popo walked away disappointed.  
  
"If you guys need me, I'm gonna be over here." Dende announced, pointing to a small doorway, and then walking in.  
  
  
  
Nicole sighed and sat down next to Leah. Angelica and Yamcha did the same. "This is so boring…" Leah said after five minutes.  
  
"Tell me about it!" Yamcha agreed.  
  
"We need to find something to do…" Angelica groaned.  
  
"Hey, does Mr. Popo have a computer?" Nicole asked curiously.  
  
"I dunno…" Yamcha answered. "Hey Mr. Popo! Do you have a computer!?!?"   
  
"No! Sorry!" But if you want something to do, you can help me water my-"  
  
"NO!" the four immediately cut in.  
  
"Fine! Be that way!" Mr. Popo said, returning to watering his flowers.  
  
"I wonder if anyone's ever died of boredom…" Leah muttered.  
  
"Hey! Let's order a pizza!" Angelica eagerly suggested.  
  
"But Mr. Popo doesn't have a phone…" Yamcha said.  
  
"He doesn't have a phone?" Angelica questioned, obviously not believing him. Yamcha shook his head.  
  
"Maybe Dende has one…" Leah guessed. Yamcha laughed and chuckled, "Yeah right!"  
  
Just then, Dende walked up to the four, and said, "Hey guys! Do you need a cell phone? 'Cause I got one!"   
  
Nicole, Leah, Angelica, and Yamcha all gawked. Who would have thought that Dende would have a cell phone?!?!  
  
"Great! Can we use it?" Angelica asked energetically.  
  
"Sure. Just don't call long distance…" Dende warned.  
  
"Ok!" Leah said, grabbing the phone out of Dende's hand, and handing it to Angelica. She dialed 1-800-ORDER-A-PIZZA and ordered one with a ton of toppings, such as extra cheese, sausage, olives, mushrooms, peppers, pineapples, tomatoes, onions, and pepperoni.  
  
  
  
Within the next ten minutes, the pizza arrived, and everyone dug in. A while after, once everyone had finished stuffing their faces, Nicole blurted out, "I wonder how Trunks is doing…"   
  
"I wonder how Gohan's doing…" Angelica said, joining in.  
  
"They're probably training right now… I wonder if Gohan went Super Saiyan level three yet…" Yamcha said.  
  
"I bet he did!" Angelica said happily.  
  
"Why would Gohan go Super Saiyan level three first, and not Trunks?" Nicole asked, a little insulted.  
  
"'Cause Gohan is slightly stronger than Trunks… but the two are still extremely close in power levels." Yamcha explained.   
  
"I bet Yamcha could go Super Saiyan level… whatever, any day of the week." Leah bragged, feeling excluded.  
  
"Uh… thanks for the compliment, but… I can't go Super Saiyan at all." Yamcha slowly admitted.  
  
"What!?!? Why?!?!" Leah asked, half shocked by his answer, half embarrassed by her boasting.   
  
"'Cause I don't have Saiyan blood. Gohan and Trunks are half Saiyan, because their fathers, Goku and Vegeta, are both full-blooded Saiyans." Yamcha explained.   
  
"That's not fair…" Leah complained. "But doesn't that mean that Bra's half Saiyan 'cause Vegeta's her father too?"  
  
Yamcha nodded. "Yeah, but… she doesn't fight!" Leah said.  
  
"I know… she says 'she's a shopper, not a fighter'." Yamcha responded.  
  
"Well there's Saiyan blood that was just wasted on someone who's never gonna use it." Leah announced outraged.   
  
"Yeah, but I wouldn't wanna have Vegeta as my father anyway! But it's ok though, 'cause I'm the strongest human fighter anyway. Krillin used to be, but now I've greatly surpassed him." Yamcha assured.  
  
"Oh… but if you could go Super Saiyan, or if you had the blood in you, or whatever… I bet you'd be the strongest Super Saiyan in the entire world." Leah complimented.  
  
"Who is your father anyway?" Angelica suddenly interrupted.   
  
"Well… my father died a long time ago…" Yamcha recalled.  
  
"How?" Leah asked.  
  
"Ya see… way before I met Bulma and Goku, I was a desert bandit, and my father was the head of our gang. He was shot in the chest and died… while he was trying to steal from a blacksmith…" Yamcha sadly said.  
  
"Oh… I'm sorry…" Leah said sympathetically, hugging him.  
  
"It's ok… he died when I was eight, and we were never really that close…" Yamcha said. "Then all the others from our gang ran off because they had no leader, and I stayed as a bandit with Puar until I was fourteen or fifteen… that was when I met Bulma and Goku."  
  
"Oh…" Angelica nodded. Then, everyone was silent for a few minutes.  
  
"So…" Nicole said, trying to break the quietness. "Trunks and Gohan went in at around… 12:00…"  
  
"Yeah…" Angelica said.  
  
"Well, if it's 2:00 now…" Nicole began.  
  
"We've got a heck of a long time to wait…" Yamcha finished.  
  
"Does Mr. Popo have a television?" Angelica hopefully asked.  
  
"Nope…" Yamcha responded.  
  
"He doesn't have a computer, a phone, or a television? How can he survive up here?!?!" Leah demanded. Everyone laughed.  
  
"Oh! A deck of cards! He probably has a deck of cards, right?" Nicole blurted out suddenly.  
  
"God knows…" Yamcha answered.  
  
"Mr. Popo! Do you have a deck of cards we could use!?!?" Nicole shouted.  
  
"Let's see… only a deck of pinochle cards…" he answered.   
  
"Great! Can we use 'em?" Nicole excitedly asked.  
  
"Sure! Lemme get them for you…" Mr. Popo said cheerfully. He went into the building that Dende had gone into earlier, and came back out with a deck of playing cards. "Here you are." Mr. Popo said, handing them to Nicole.  
  
"Thanks!" she said gratefully. Once Mr. Popo had started tending his flowers again, Nicole took the cards out from their box, shuffled them, and said, "So do you guys wanna learn how to play pinochle?"  
  
"What the heck is pinochle?" Yamcha questioned.  
  
"It's a really cool card game. Don't worry, I'll explain it to you." Nicole assured, as she continued shuffling the cards. Just as she was beginning to deal, Leah said, "So? How do you play?"  
  
"Well," Nicole said as she handed out the last card. "This deck is different from a regular deck of cards. It goes from the nines, all the way up to the aces. Like every deck, it still has four of each kind." she explained.  
  
  
  
Once Leah, Angelica, and Yamcha understood the rules, they all played a few rather long games, before it got dark. "I really hope Mr. Popo has a place where we can sleep…" Leah said once the cards were put away.  
  
"I know, really…" Nicole added.  
  
"Hey Mr. Popo! Where are we all gonna sleep?" Yamcha yelled.  
  
"Uh… right where you are! I'll bring out some sleeping bags!" Mr. Popo said. Once he had got them, he walked over to the group and said, "Here you go!" as he dropped them down. "There are only three, so you'll have to find a way to share them…"  
  
"That's ok!" Yamcha said quickly.  
  
"Yeah! We'll sleep together!" Leah added.  
  
"No. I think we should lay them all out, and sleep on them like that." Angelica said.  
  
"No!" Leah snapped.  
  
"Yes!" Angelica argued.  
  
"Why?!?! Don't you trust me and Yamcha?" Leah asked, trying to hide a slight grin.  
  
"No! Not after last night!" Angelica explained.  
  
"Fine. We'll lie out the sleeping bags." Leah finally reluctantly agreed.   
  
  
  
Once the sleeping bags were rolled out, and lined up, the four talked a little before going to sleep. "You know… after Gohan kills Jukuo, we should have a huge party!" Angelica suggested.  
  
"Wait… who says Gohan's gonna beat him?" Nicole questioned insulted.  
  
"No one… I just think Gohan will be the one to destroy him!" Angelica responded.  
  
"Whatever…" Nicole said, trying to change the subject. She totally disagreed with Angelica. See didn't see why she was bragging over her boyfriend being the strongest. Trunks had told her about many happenings where someone unexpected won a battle. She wasn't in the mood to argue over something as stupid as that anyway. Even though Nicole really wanted Trunks to be the won to destroy Jukuo, she didn't want him to get seriously hurt… or worse. Killed.  
  
  
  
"Anyway, yeah. We should have a party!" Leah said excitedly.  
  
"Yeah, it does sound fun." Yamcha said.  
  
"Where would we have it?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Probably at Capsule Corp. since that's where we have all of our big parties…" Yamcha guessed.  
  
"Hey, maybe Bra would like it if we combined her birthday party and the celebration all into one!" Leah said.  
  
"Maybe… we should ask her." Nicole replied.  
  
  
  
Nicole, Leah, Angelica, and Yamcha all talked until they heard Mr. Popo scream, "HEY!!!! SHUT UP OUT THERE!!!!! SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!!!!!"  
  
"Sorry!" Nicole sourly apologized. It wasn't even 10:00 yet! "I guess we'd better go to sleep, before Mr. Popo yells at us again… I didn't think we were being that loud…" Leah said slowly.  
  
"Yeah…" Yamcha agreed.  
  
  
  
Once everyone was on a sleeping bag, things got quiet and everyone drifted to sleep quickly.   
  
  
  
The next morning, Nicole slowly awoke. Her eyes drowsily opened. The sun was so bright she had to shut her eyes again. Guessing by the sunlight, Nicole realized she had slept late. She heard Leah, Angelica, and Yamcha talking. "Only a few hours now…" she heard Yamcha say.  
  
"Good. So, what are we gonna do until then?" Leah asked. Nicole tried to open her eyes again. She saw Leah sitting next to Yamcha, and Angelica sitting across from them. Nicole squinted and then rolled over to hide her eyes from the blinding sun.  
  
"Look… Nicole's finally awake…" Angelica announced.  
  
"Good. Now we can play pinochle again, until Trunks and Gohan come out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Yamcha said, grabbing the deck of cards.  
  
"C'mon Nicole! Get up!" Leah ordered. "We wanna play pinochle again, but we forgot all the rules…"  
  
"Ugh… do I have to?" Nicole groaned.  
  
"Yes!" Angelica quickly answered.  
  
"Fine…" she muttered as she slowly sat up. After blinking a few times, her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. Nicole stretched her legs out and took the cards from Yamcha. "For teams, it's me and Angelica again, right?" she yawned as she shuffled the deck.  
  
"Yeah, I guess…" Yamcha said.  
  
"Ok." Nicole responded. She passed out the cards, and they started to play.  
  
  
  
About an hour had passed when the game had ended. Nicole said, "Boo-ya! That's for every time you guys beat us yesterday!"  
  
"Yeah!" Angelica happily added. They were celebrating their first win, when Mr. Popo came over to them and asked them if they wanted to something to eat. "Do you guys wanna eat before or after Trunks and Gohan come out?" he questioned.   
  
"Uh… probably after…" Angelica said.  
  
"Yeah, that way we'll be able to eat with them." Nicole explained.  
  
"Alright then…" Mr. Popo said, walking away.   
  
"Shall we play another game?" Angelica asked confidently.   
  
"Yeah, but let's make it quick so we can put the sleeping bags away." Yamcha said.  
  
"Same teams!" Nicole declared as she started shuffling the deck of cards again.  
  
That game Leah and Yamcha won. "Oh! NOW who's the best team?" Leah said joyfully.   
  
"Well, at least we won one game…" Angelica said to Nicole. She nodded. "Hey look!" Nicole said, pointing to the clock.  
  
"It's 11:45!" Yamcha said.  
  
"That means they're coming out in fifteen minutes… we'd better put the sleeping bags away." Leah suggested.  
  
"Yeah…" everyone agreed. The four rolled up the sleeping bags, and gave them to Mr. Popo. Once he had put them away, he walked over to the door the led to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where Nicole, Leah, Angelica, and Yamcha were all waiting. "It should be any time now…" Mr. Popo announced, looking at the clock. It was 11:57. Soon, 11:58. Then 11:59. "Oh… I can't wait!" Angelica said excitedly.   
  
"It is time!" Mr. Popo declared. He walked up to the great wooden door, and turned the handle. A brilliant light blinded Nicole's eyes. She saw two dark figures emerge. Once they had come into focus, and Mr. Popo had shut the door, Nicole ran to Trunks and hugged him. "Oh my God Trunks! Look at your hair!" Nicole said in shock.  
  
"Ugh! Yours too Gohan!" Angelica said, walking over to him. Trunks' hair had grown at least four inches! Gohan's hair had become much longer also. "Oh my God, as soon a Yamcha goes in, we're going to get you two haircuts!" Angelica said  
  
"Yes!" Nicole quickly added. Trunks and Gohan just laughed. Meanwhile, Leah was totally cracking up. "Hey Leah, I'd shut up if I were you, 'cause when Yamcha comes out his hair is gonna be longer too!" Angelica said annoyed.  
  
"Yeah, but at least he won't look as bad as Trunks or Gohan!" Leah laughed.  
  
"Shut up!" Nicole snapped.  
  
"Yamcha, it is now your turn." Mr. Popo announced, ignoring the laughter.   
  
"Ok, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow…" Yamcha said, as he hugged Leah goodbye.  
  
"See ya!" she said, kissing him on the cheek. With that, Yamcha walked through the door, and into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.  
  
  
  
"I'm hungry." Gohan blurted out.  
  
"Oh! Yamcha never ate! Now he's gonna like… starve!" Leah groaned.  
  
"It's ok… there's food in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Mr. Popo assured.  
  
"C'mon! Let's eat!" Gohan said.  
  
"Ok." Angelica agreed. Mr. Popo led Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, and Gohan into a small dinning room. "I'm so hungry!" Gohan exclaimed.  
  
"But didn't Mr. Popo say that there's food in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Leah asked.  
  
"Yeah, but…" Gohan began.  
  
"We can't cook…" Trunks finished. "Gohan tried to cook spaghetti once, and the kitchen almost caught on fire!" Trunks said, as everyone sat down at the table.  
  
"Well, when Trunks tried to make a chicken stir-fry, he dropped the skillet and almost broke my foot!" Gohan recalled, beginning to laugh.  
  
"Oh, so Gohan and I were making soup, and when we were done, it had like, no flavor, and Gohan wanted to add a can of beer!" Trunks laughed.  
  
"There's beer in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Nicole asked, giggling.  
  
"Yeah! Trunks answered.  
  
"I hope Yamcha doesn't a hold of it!" Angelica said, laughing even harder.  
  
"Hey! That's not funny!" Leah said, grinning.  
  
"Oh, yes it is!" Gohan chuckled.  
  
  
  
The five talked a while longer, until Mr. Popo brought them something to eat.  
  
  
  
"Yes! Good food!" Gohan said, beginning to stuff his face.  
  
"Alright!" Trunks said, joining him. Nicole, Leah, and Angelica all stared at the two in total shock. They had never seen anyone eat like them before. Food seemed to be flying everywhere!  
  
  
  
During the meal, Nicole asked, "So did either of you reach Super Saiyan level three?"  
  
"No…" Trunks said.  
  
"Really?" Angelica asked, a note of disappointment in her voice.  
  
"Yeah, but now we're closer than ever." Gohan said shoving some fried rice into his watering mouth.  
  
  
  
After everyone had finished eating, Angelica said, "Now we're going to get you guys haircuts!"  
  
"Yeah, ok." Trunks said.  
  
"Let's go. I don't know how much longer I can stand to look at you with your hair that way…" Nicole said, looking at Trunks.  
  
"You really hate it, don't you?" he asked smiling. She nodded. The five got into the jet plane that they had arrived in, and told Mr. Popo they would be back in about an hour. "Have fun now!" Mr. Popo waved goodbye.  
  
"Where does he think we're going? To an amusement park?!?!" Leah laughed.  
  
"I don't know, but personally, I think Mr. Popo is really stupid…" Nicole said, cracking up too.  
  
"I totally agree." Angelica said.  
  
"The only thing he's really good for, is letting us use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber whenever we want! Trunks laughed.  
  
"And food!" Gohan added.  
  
  
  
The group laughed hysterically until they reached the hair salon. "The Celestial Salon…" Leah read aloud.   
  
"I hope the do haircuts for guys…" Gohan said as everyone got out of the plane.   
  
"Of course they would!" Angelica said as they walked through the front door. Nicole looked around. The walls were painted a pale shade of blue, and the ceiling was black, covered in small images of stars and ringed planets. The small salon certainly fit its name. Nicole, Leah, and Angelica all sat down on a velvet navy blue couch, while Trunks and Gohan made a reservation at the front desk. Once they were finished, the two walked over to the girls and sat down. "So, how long is the wait?" Angelica questioned.  
  
"Oh, they said we should be taken any minute." Gohan said. A few moments later, Trunks' name was called. He walked to the back of the shop, and just as he sat down, Gohan's name was called too.   
  
  
  
Within an hour, Trunks and Gohan had their hair cut back to its original length, and the group flew back to Mr. Popo's tower. Nicole then taught Trunks and Gohan how to play pinochle. "This is a really cool card game!" Gohan said, putting out an ace of diamonds. "I take it, right?"   
  
"Yep!" Nicole answered. Gohan grabbed his ace from the middle, along with Nicole's ten of hearts, Angelica's king of diamonds, and Trunks' nine of clubs. Then, Gohan threw out an ace of spades. Once Angelica had taken her turn, Trunks questioned, "Trump is diamonds, right?"  
  
"Yeah." Nicole answered as he put out a queen of diamonds.  
  
  
  
That game seemed to last forever. No one could get to five hundred points, which was the goal.  
  
  
  
"Yes! We finally made it!" Angelica said when the game had ended.  
  
"I know!" Nicole grinned as she collected all the cards.  
  
"This time I'm keeping score. Ok?" Gohan said to Leah.  
  
"Yeah… so it's me and Angelica, and Nicole and Trunks?" Leah asked.  
  
"Yep." Angelica answered.  
  
  
  
The next game was much shorter. Nicole and Trunks kept getting really good cards, so they won easily. For the third game, Nicole kept score and Leah and Angelica were a team, and so were Trunks and Gohan. Just as it was about to end, Dende walked over and said, "Hey, can I play too?"  
  
"Uh… I guess…" Gohan said.  
  
"Let us finish this game first though." said Leah. He nodded and said, "Great."  
  
  
  
The game they played with Dende was very confusing. He kept asking the same questions over and over. "What's a run again?" he asked as everyone was counting their points.  
  
"Dende, I told you like… five times already!" Nicole answered annoyed.  
  
"Well, I forgot!" he persisted.  
  
"Ugh… it's when you have at least one ace, one ten, one king, one queen, one jack, and one nine. The nine's optional though… you don't need it to have a run. Oh, and it all has to be in the same suit." Nicole explained.  
  
"Oh… ok." Dende said, looking at his cards again. That game, Leah and Nicole won.  
  
"Well, I think you did a pretty good job…" Gohan said to Dende.   
  
"Yeah right! The score was minus three hundred eighty six, to five hundred! I set us, like twenty billion times!" Dende admitted sarcastically.   
  
"But it was your first game!" Gohan reminded.  
  
Soon Dende had left and everyone got tired of playing. "Let's play rummy." Nicole said, hoping to find something else to do that everyone would enjoy.  
  
"Uh… ok…" Angelica agreed. "But you'll have to teach us!"  
  
"Geeze, you guys don't know any card games, do you?" Nicole laughed.  
  
"That's not true! I know how to play fifty two pick up!" Leah said giggling. "And besides! We all had better things to do than learn how to play cards!"  
  
"Ugh! You're so mean!" Nicole said, laughing too.  
  
  
  
Once Nicole had convinced everyone to let her teach them rummy, they all played for a while until Mr. Popo asked them what they wanted for dinner. "Well, what can you make?" Angelica asked.  
  
"Um… pasta… chicken… steak… soup…" he began to list.  
  
"I want soup." Nicole interrupted. She absolutely loved soup, as it was her all time favorite food. It could be a thousand degrees outside, and Nicole would want to eat soup.  
  
"Yeah, soup sounds good… what kinds can you make?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Oh! How about Maryland Crab soup?" Nicole interrupted again.   
  
"Yeah, I can make that…" Mr. Popo responded.  
  
"It's really good." Nicole said, turning to Leah, Angelica, Trunks and Gohan. When Mr. Popo had walked away, Gohan said, "Nicole, why didn't we get a say in that?"  
  
"I dunno… sorry…" Nicole smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I mean, maybe one of us is like… allergic to soup, or something!" Leah giggled.  
  
"Well, I dunno about you, but I've never met anyone who's allergic to soup…" Angelica said laughing.  
  
"Anyway, trust me. You'll all love it." Nicole said.  
  
"Ok… " Gohan said. "Let's play rummy again."  
  
"Yeah." Angelica agreed.  
  
  
  
So the five played a few short games. After the eighth round, Trunks complained, "Ugh… when the heck is Mr. Popo gonna be done with that soup? It's already been an hour…"  
  
"He probably blew up his kitchen or something…" Leah said sarcastically.  
  
  
  
When Mr. Popo finally did serve them dinner, which was about ten minutes later, everyone loved the soup, just like Nicole had guessed. "Well, you were right Nicole… this soup is really good." Angelica complimented.  
  
"Yeah. I agree one hundred percent!" Trunks chimed in.  
  
"Thank you… thank you… no autographs please…" Nicole said laughing.  
  
"What about pictures?" Leah joked.  
  
  
  
After everyone had finished eating, they decided to set up their sleeping bags. Since they had five people instead of four like the night before it was going to be even more cramped with only three sleeping bags. So they laid them out in a format similar to the one they had used before. Except this time, they unzipped the sleeping bags all the way open. "I miss sleeping in my own bed…" Nicole said as she crawled onto the sleeping bags.  
  
"I know… I miss my pajamas too! We've been sleeping in sleeping bags for the last three nights!" Leah agreed.  
  
"Well, tomorrow we won't have to." Angelica said.  
  
"Thank God…" Nicole sighed.  
  
  
  
When everyone became tired enough to fall asleep, the five climbed onto the bed of sleeping bags and with drowsy goodnights to each other. They all went to sleep. 


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
**********  
  
Nicole's eyes shot open. She tensely sat up and looked at the clock on the top of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It was 2:35. She lay back down, and tried to relax. She had the exact same dream that she had two nights before, at Capsule Corp., except this one continued. In her dream, Jukuo had grabbed Trunks during their battle and shot him with a ki blast. He was totally defenseless against such a great deal of power like Jukuo's. Nicole shook the awful images from her mind, and looked at the sky. To her surprise she saw a sudden flash of light. Nicole filled with panic. If she wasn't mistaken it was Jukuo.   
  
  
  
"Oh my God…" she whispered nervously. She walked over to the other end of the sleeping bags, and started shaking Trunks. "Wake up Trunks! I think it's Jukuo!" she muttered. He slowly opened his eyes. "What?" he asked tiredly.  
  
"Jukuo! It's him! He's here!" she repeated.  
  
"Where?" Trunks asked as he slowly sat up.  
  
"There!" Nicole said, pointing to the yellow-green light that was dancing across the night sky.  
  
"Oh my God! That's him alright!" Trunks said, looking at the flickering light.  
  
"What he doing here?" she asked concerned.  
  
"I don't have the slightest idea…" he nervously answered. "Wake everyone up. This could mean trouble."  
  
"Ok." Nicole said as she got up and walked over to Leah.  
  
  
  
Once everyone was up and knew what was going on, Trunks said, "I wonder if he wants to fight us now…"  
  
"I hope not! We haven't gone Super Saiyan level three yet!" Gohan reminded.  
  
"Well, is he gonna talk to us or are we goin' over there?" Angelica asked impatiently.  
  
"I imagine he came here looking for us. I say we go over to him… cautiously." Gohan said.  
  
"Right." Trunks agreed.  
  
"I can go, right?" Nicole hopefully asked Trunks.  
  
"Yeah, but if we do have to fight him right now, you've gotta stay outta the way. I don't want you getting hurt." He answered. With that, Nicole, Trunks, and Gohan flew away into the distance to find Jukuo.  
  
  
  
"That's not fair… now we're gonna miss the whole thing all 'cause we can't fly." Leah complained.  
  
"I know… why didn't Gohan and Yamcha teach us to fly too?" Angelica asked.  
  
"Who knows…" Leah responded.  
  
"We've gotta ask them when they get back." Angelica decided.   
  
  
  
Meanwhile, Nicole, Trunks, and Gohan had finally reached Jukuo.  
  
"Ah… Trunks and Nicole… we meet again. And Gohan… I've been looking forward to seeing you. They say you're the strongest living Saiyan." Jukuo grinned. Gohan's hands balled into angry fists. "I guess you're all wondering why I came out the way out here… I just wanted to tell you that if you're ready to fight me to try to save your pitiful planet, you can meet me on that island down there, the day after tomorrow. That's where we'll fight. When the sun sets, I expect to see you and all of your pathetic friends there. Oh, and if I were you, I wouldn't bother bringing your precious girlfriends… they'll just be the ones next to die after I finish you two and all the other fighters." Jukuo evilly snickered.   
  
"We'll all be there." Gohan said.  
  
"Count on it." Trunks added.  
  
"Good. I look forward to testing my power on a worthy adversary. Oh! And bring your Dragon Balls!" He said. "See you then!" Jukuo grinned as he flew away.   
  
"Ugh, he makes me so mad!" Nicole angrily said.  
  
"I know…" Trunks said. "He has this way of getting under your skin…"  
  
  
  
The three flew back to Mr. Popo's tower, where Leah and Angelica were waiting. "So, what'd he say?" Angelica asked.  
  
"He wants us to fight him the day after tomorrow." Gohan answered.  
  
"Oh my God! And neither of you have gone Super Saiyan level three yet!" Leah said.  
  
"Well, the way I figure, we have tomorrow to train. Then, we can rest until the fight that starts at sun set on the next day." Trunks said.  
  
"Yeah, that should work out. That way, we'll have at least one more day of training..." Gohan agreed.  
  
"Good. Can we go back to sleep now?" Angelica asked.  
  
"I guess…" Gohan said.  
  
  
  
Once the five had gotten back into their sleeping bags, they all fell asleep rather quickly, except for Nicole. She lay awake, worrying about her nerve-wracking dream, and Jukuo. She didn't want to believe that her dream would become a reality, but her dream about meeting trunks came true! That could mean that any of her dreams might come true! "But I'm not gonna let that bother me. Trunks… or Gohan… whoever… someone will defiantly beat Jukuo." she silently decided.   
  
  
  
Within the next five minutes, Nicole dozed off trying to imagine Trunks destroying Jukuo.   
  
  
  
The next morning, Nicole was the first one to wake up, so she lay awake for a while until the others got up.  
  
Once they had all eaten breakfast, Nicole, Leah, Angelica, Trunks, and Gohan played their last few card games before Yamcha came out from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. "Ya know… I hate to say it but playing cards is really starting to get boring…" Leah complained.  
  
"I know… but when Yamcha comes out, we can do stuff that's more… civilized…" Angelica said.  
  
"If Mr. Popo had a freakin' TV or computer, we wouldn't even have this problem…" Nicole sighed.  
  
"I know…" Trunks said.  
  
"Let's all just be thankful that we have less than an hour to wait…" Gohan reminded.   
  
"Yeah…" the five all agreed.  
  
  
  
After the hour had finally passed, and everyone had put away their sleeping bags, the group gathered around the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Nicole looked up at the clock. It was 11:58. Then, Mr. Popo walked over and said, "Yamcha should be out any minute."   
  
"Great!" Leah said happily. Just then, Mr. Popo walked up to the door, turned the handle, and tugged it open. The same bright light filled Nicole's eyes once again. In a few moments, when the light had faded away, Nicole saw who she thought was Yamcha, only with really long hair! Nicole and Angelica starting giggling on the spot. And Leah thought Trunks and Gohan looked awful! Nicole thought.  
  
"Oh my God!" Leah said when she saw Yamcha's long tousled hair.  
  
"So, is it as bad as you thought it'd be?" he asked grinning.  
  
"Worse! Much worse!" Leah said, making a disgusted face.  
  
  
  
Later, when everyone had eaten lunch, and had gone for Yamcha's haircut, they flew Nicole, Leah, and Angelica back to their houses. On the way, they explained to Yamcha what Jukuo's plan was, and how they were going to spend the remainder of days before the battle. "So, we have one more day to train, right?" Yamcha questioned.  
  
"Yep." Gohan nodded.  
  
"I just hope it'll be enough…" Trunks sighed.  
  
  
  
When Leah and Angelica had both been dropped off at their homes, Trunks headed to Nicole's house. When they got there, Nicole climbed out from the jet plane, and thanked Trunks for letting her and her friends go to Mr. Popo's tower with them. "Sure." He smiled.  
  
"I guess I'll talk to you later…" she said, turning, and going up the walkway to her front door.  
  
"Bye!" Trunks called after her.  
  
"Bye!" she waved, as she reached the front steps. After the plane had taken off again, Nicole let herself inside.   
  
  
  
"It's been a week…" Nicole thought to herself. "A week since the fire in the movie theatre… a week since we kissed…" Nicole knew that she had never felt so strongly about anyone ever before. But she had an incredibly good feeling about this relationship… it was like no other she had ever had… she knew it was going to last for a long while.  
  
  
  
The rest of the day, Nicole spent hanging around the house. She did go online for a while, later that evening, to talk to Trunks, but he wasn't on. Instead, her cousin Brittany was on. Nicole double clicked her screen name, and typed out 'Hi' to her.  
  
"Hey!" Brittany wrote back. "What's up?"  
  
"Nothing much…" Nicole typed.  
  
"Oh… hey, my mom wants to know if you wanna go see a movie with me, Keith, and her, on Friday night." she said.  
  
"Sorry… I can't… I'm gonna be busy then…" Nicole wrote, knowing that that was when the battle with Jukuo was going to take place.   
  
"Why?" Brittany questioned.  
  
"Because I have to do something." Nicole typed.  
  
"Why won't you tell me?" she asked.  
  
"I did! I have to do something!" Nicole typed again.  
  
"What?" she persisted.  
  
"I have to go watch my boyfriend save the planet." Nicole hesitantly wrote.  
  
"Yeah right… c'mon! Tell me!" Brittany asked again.  
  
"That's the truth!" Nicole wrote.  
  
"Yeah… sure, whatever." She answered.  
  
Nicole's conversation with Brittany went on for a while longer, until Nicole had to get off the computer.   
  
  
  
It was 11:00 so she decided to go to bed. Nicole got into her pajamas, and slowly fell asleep.   
  
  
  
The next day, Nicole got a phone call from Trunks. "So, today you, Leah, and Angelica are all gonna drive here, to Capsule Corp., and we're all gonna fly to the island that Jukuo told us to meet him on." Trunks explained.  
  
"Ok, that sounds good." Nicole agreed. "So, I guess I'll see you then." She said when their conversation had finally ended.  
  
  
  
Then, Nicole called Leah and Angelica and told them what the plan was, for getting to the island that the battle was going to be on. They all agreed, and Leah said that she'd drive them all to Capsule Corp. later in the evening.  
  
  
  
So, Nicole spent the remainder of her day on the computer, until it was 5:00. Then, once she was ready, she waited until Leah came to pick her up.   
  
  
  
Nicole was worried. Worried to say the least. She was afraid that Jukuo would win. She was afraid everyone would be killed. She had faith in Trunks… and Gohan too. She knew they could win… but just wasn't sure.  
  
  
  
Nicole heard a car horn beep. She stood up, and went to the door. "I'm leaving now!" Nicole called to her dad.  
  
"Bye! Be careful! And be home on time!" he dad responded.  
  
"Ok!" she said, walking out the door. Nicole got into Leah's car, and greeted her friends. "Hey!" she said.  
  
"Hi!" Leah and Angelica both replied.  
  
"So are you ready to see the fight of the millennium?" Nicole asked grinning.  
  
"I guess…" Leah smiled. With that, they headed toward Capsule Corp.  
  
  
  
Once they got there, and the three got out of the car, they went up to the front door and rang the doorbell. A moment later, Trunks opened the door and let them in.  
  
They walked into the living room, to find Yamcha, Gohan, Vegeta, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, Piccolo, Bulma, and Bra. Trunks had the sheath that carried his sword strapped onto his back. "So can we go now?" Vegeta asked smugly.  
  
"Yup." Trunks answered.  
  
"Good luck you guys!" Bulma said as everyone crowed around the front door.  
  
"Yeah! Kill that stupid Namek that ruined my birthday!" Bra added.   
  
"Bye!" Trunks waved.  
  
"So… we're flying right?" Angelica asked Gohan.  
  
"Yeah… in that jet plane." Gohan said, pointing to a much larger plane than the one that the six of them had taken to Mr. Popo's tower.   
  
  
  
Once everyone was in, the plane took off, and flew to the island. No one said anything for the whole ride there. Nicole looked out the window she was leaning against. It was getting dark. The sky was turning a beautiful shade of pinkish blue, with small, scattered orangey spots. Once the sun set… the battle would begin.   
  
  
  
The group reached the chosen island a few minutes later. "We're here…" Trunks slowly announced. Everyone piled out of the jet. "He's not here yet…" Gohan said.  
  
"Well we can all see that." Vegeta rudely responded.  
  
"He should be here soon… the sun's setting." Piccolo said.  
  
"Where should I put these?" Krillin asked, as he started taking the Dragon Balls out from the plane.  
  
"Put them over there…" Gohan said, pointing to a mass of boulders. Yamcha walked over to a nearby rock, and timidly sat down on it. Leah followed. "Yamcha, what the heck are you doing?" Leah asked, looking at the Game Boy Ultra Star he was holding.  
  
"Oh, well I figured since I wouldn't be fighting in the battle… unless it's absolutely necessary that is… I'd just play my Game Boy to pass the time." he explained.  
  
"Well then what was the point of you even coming if you're not gonna watch the fight?!" Leah questioned.  
  
"Oh, I am gonna watch it…" Yamcha slowly said, not looking up.   
  
"Honestly…" Leah grumbled, as he continued to furiously push buttons.  
  
"THERE HE IS!!!!!!!" Chiaotzu suddenly shrieked, as he pointed to the sky. "TIEN!!!!! I'M SCARED!!!!!!!"  
  
"Ugh… who said he could come?" Vegeta said annoyed.  
  
"I Did." Tien answered shortly.  
  
"Would you two shut up?!?!" Piccolo ordered.   
  
"DARN! I lost…" Yamcha complained.  
  
"This is gonna be so embarrassing…" Krillin said, looking down at the rocky ground.  
  
"Shhh! He's landing!" Gohan whispered.  
  
  
  
Jukuo's feet touched the ground. He made his way over to the Z-fighters. With every step he took, the sinking feeling in Nicole's stomach got even stronger. He looked invincible. 


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
**********  
  
"Hello." He said calmly. "Long time no see Piccolo. I'm so glad you could all make it to my little get-together. Did you bring the Dragon Balls?"  
  
"Yeah." Gohan answered.  
  
"Here's the way we'll do it. Since there are six of you that look worthy of fighting me… every time I defeat one of you, you give me a Dragon Ball. If you manage to defeat me, which… is just not going to happen… you'll get my Dragon Ball. That should be fair." Jukuo grinned.  
  
"On one condition." Gohan said.  
  
"Yes?" Jukuo asked curiously.  
  
"What do you plan to wish for with the Dragon Balls once you've got them all?" he asked.  
  
"First, I am going to wish for immortality. Eternal Life. That way I will be not only the strongest in the entire universe, but completely indestructible, so no ever will ever rise to my level of power and try to destroy me." Jukuo explained. "Second, I'll wish for all the planets in every galaxy, to obey me and only me. And third-"  
  
"Uh, sorry I have to be the bearer of bad news Jukuo, but… the Dragon here on earth, Shenlong, only grants two wishes, unlike the Dragon on Namek." Gohan smiled. "I guess you'll have to forget one."   
  
Jukuo scowled. "Well that's ok. I only really need the first two. The third… isn't necessary."   
  
"Good." grinned Gohan.  
  
"Let's get to it then." Jukuo suggested. "I don't have all day."  
  
"You got it." Gohan said, powering up. He went Super Saiyan. His hair spiked up, and faded from black to a golden blonde. His eyes turned a bright aqua color. An aura of bright light surrounded him.   
  
  
  
"Here we go…" Piccolo murmured.  
  
"STUPID GAME! I keep loosing!!!" Yamcha yelled.  
  
"Shhh!" Leah hushed.  
  
  
  
Gohan flew to the sky. Jukuo followed. The two dove at each other. Gohan began throwing punches, and dodging Jukuo's. "SHOOTING SPHERE!!!!!" Jukuo yelled, as he formed a blast in his hands, and aimed it at Gohan. He easily dodged it, and chucked a Masenko Ha back at him. Jukuo knocked it away with his arm, and sent it flying into the distance. The two punched, and kicked at each other a while longer, until Gohan let out a small Spirit Bomb that Jukuo dodged with ease. "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!!!!!" he screamed, as an energy blast of yellow light came out from his hand. Gohan knocked it away, and sent out a ki blast. A ball of yellow light forced it's way out from his hands, and hit Jukuo. "Well, I think that was a sufficient warm-up… it could have been better though." Jukuo smirked after Gohan's blast had bounced off his hand.  
  
"Yes… it could have." Gohan agreed, as he landed on the ground.  
  
"I just want you to know… that when I kill you, I'm going to try to make it as painless as possible." Jukuo smirked.  
  
"Yeah, well if things go the way I've planed, the only one who's going to get killed is you." Gohan answered.  
  
"Yes, gloat now, but we'll see who the stronger one is when you have to beg for mercy." Jukuo said.  
  
"I guess we'll see…" Gohan grinned.  
  
  
  
With that, the two flew into the air again, and began their harsh battle once more.   
  
  
  
"DAMNIT! THIS STUPID FREAKIN' GAME!" Yamcha yelled.  
  
"Yamcha, be quiet! You're distracting Gohan! Do you want him to lose?" Angelica questioned annoyed.  
  
"HOW CAN I LOSE? I BEAT ALL THE OTHER LEVELS SO EASILY!" Yamcha screamed again.  
  
"Would you shut up!? I can't believe you even brought that stupid thing!" Vegeta said angrily. The sky was growing dark. "Let's do this." Gohan said. The Super Saiyan and Namekian dove at each other, for round two. The punches started flying again. It was incredible to watch. For long periods of time Gohan and Jukuo would just fly around, punching, kicking, and dodging each other.   
  
  
  
"Jukuo's skill is amazing. He's changed so much…" Piccolo muttered.  
  
"Yeah… now he's evil…" Krillin said.  
  
"No, I mean he's changed so much in power level. He has impressive fighting skills. He's learned a lot from when I last saw him." Piccolo explained.  
  
"So… was he like the weakest Namekian or something?" Tien asked.  
  
"Actually, he was… the only reason why we ever trained together was because I said I'd give him some tips… then we became close friends." Piccolo said.  
  
  
  
Meanwhile in the sky, Jukuo and Gohan continued to duke it out. There were intense blows, and powerful thrusts, but the two kept battling, no matter how badly they got hurt.  
  
  
  
"This is incredible…" Nicole said, trying to follow Gohan and Jukuo's movements.  
  
"They're moving so fast…" Leah slowly said.   
  
"I can't keep up!" Angelica added.  
  
"YES!!!!! I DID IT!!!!!! WHO'S THE MAN??!!??!! I ROCK!!!! YEAH!!!! I'M THE BEST PLAYER EVER!!!!!!!!!!!" Yamcha screamed. Leah rolled her eyes, and said, "Yamcha, you're totally embarrassing us all in front of Jukuo!"  
  
"No I'm not…" Yamcha said, returning to his game.  
  
  
  
"DEATH DISC!" Jukuo yelled, as a pure white disc sharply flew from his hand to Gohan.  
  
"I don't think so!" he said, shooting several ki blasts at Jukuo, and eliminating the Death Disc.  
  
  
  
For the next twenty minutes or so, it looked as if there was a light show going on in the dark night sky. Energy blasts were zooming every which way. Once Chiaotzu almost got hit even though he was on the ground, hiding behind Tien's leg!  
  
  
  
Eventually, the two stopped blasting each other, and their fists began flying yet again. Gohan managed to smash Jukuo into a huge boulder, but Jukuo evened out the score by throwing Gohan into the ground.  
  
"This doesn't look good…" Trunks said, as Jukuo started violently kicking Gohan in the chest.  
  
"Oh Gohan…" Angelica sighed.  
  
"This wouldn't be happening if we had just gone Super Saiyan level three…" Trunks said angrily.  
  
"This game is no longer amusing! I'm going to finish you now!" Jukuo screamed. He let out several of his Death Discs, and began shooting them directly at Gohan. He was beaten up pretty badly. Gohan's forehead and nose were both bleeding, and the sleeve on his gi was completely torn off.  
  
  
  
He used what was left of his strength to dodge Jukuo's attack. The discs flew into a mound of solid rock and cut straight threw it. The mountain exploded in a few seconds, but the discs kept on going. They darted out into the distance, leaving the brilliant flash of light from the mountain's explosion to fade into the night. "Nice try, Jukuo! But I'm not completely helpless just yet!" Gohan choked out.  
  
"Oh, really?!" Jukuo asked. "Well, why don't you try this on for size!" he yelled, diving on top of Gohan and punching him in the chest. He shot down to the ground. Gohan's body hit the gravel with a thud. Slowly, he tried to get up. "SHOOTING SHPERE!!!!" shrieked Jukuo. His energy blast sped down, toward Gohan. A crash like thunder filled the air.  
  
"GOHAN!!!!!" Angelica cried out. When the smoke had cleared, everyone could see Gohan lying on the ground barely alive. There was an enormous dent in the ground from where Jukuo's blast had crashed onto Gohan, and crushed him. Angelica darted forward, but Piccolo put his arm in front of her, and blocked her path. Just as Angelica was about to scream because Piccolo wouldn't get his arm out of her way, Gohan trembled. He started to try to get up. "Oh my God!" Angelica said, panicking.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOST AGAIN!!!!!!!!" Yamcha yelled. Gohan managed to sit up. He clutched his right arm. It was bleeding critically. "You're not any fun any more. It's over!" Jukuo exclaimed.  
  
"Not… just yet…" Gohan said. He struggled to stand up. He launched into the air. "Kaaaaaa… meeeeee… haaaaaa… meeeeee… HAAAAAA!!!!!!" He chanted, shooting a large blue light from his hands at Jukuo.  
  
"He's got him!" Krillin cheered. "We're gonna win! YEAH!!! Jukuo's GONE!!!"  
  
"Don't be an idiot! He's not dead yet…" Vegeta corrected.  
  
"Yeah, but Gohan's got him! There's no way he can get away now!" Krillin continued.  
  
"Oh yeah? He just did." Piccolo interrupted.  
  
"WHAT?!" Krillin asked shocked. Gohan's Kamehameha wave had missed Jukuo by a mile. He had dodged it extremely quickly.  
  
"IT'S OVER!!!!!!!" Jukuo screamed again, giving Gohan an intense blow to the shoulder. He fell to the ground lifelessly. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Angelica cried. She made an attempt to go forward again, but Piccolo wouldn't budge. "Not yet." he said. Jukuo landed. "I think my prize for beating the so-called 'strongest living Saiyan' is one of your Dragon Balls." Jukuo grinned.  
  
"YES!!!!!! OH YEAH, BABY!!!! DO I KICK BUTT, OR WHAT?!?!?!" Yamcha yelled. He had beaten another level on his Game Boy Ultra Star. "Ugh… Krillin, give him a Dragon Ball." Piccolo said.  
  
"What?! Why me?!" Krillin asked nervously.  
  
"Just do it." Piccolo ordered.  
  
"Fine… which one?" Krillin questioned.  
  
"Doesn't matter." Piccolo said, moving his arm out of Angelica's way. She ran forward, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. When she reached Gohan, he tried to open his eyes. His bruised body was sprawled on the ground. Finally, Gohan opened his eyes, and managed to choke out, "I'm fine…" Angelica helped him up, and walked him over to the rest of the Z-Fighters. Krillin took the three-starred Dragon Ball, and nervously made his way over to Jukuo. He handed the ball to him, and turned to walk away. "Thanks baldy." Jukuo snickered. Krillin scowled, and flew away. When he made it back a moment later, Angelica had laid Gohan against the rock that Leah and Yamcha were sitting on, and was chewing a senzu bean that Piccolo had given him. Trunks had taken off his jacket, and was sliding his sword out of its sheath. He was going to be the next one to fight Jukuo. "Be careful Trunks… I'm serious." Nicole said.  
  
"Don't worry." He smiled. Trunks walked toward Jukuo.  
  
  
  
So far, everything in Nicole's dream had happened in some sort, way, or form. Gohan had lost, and Trunks was going to fight next. Nicole just prayed that he wouldn't get killed.  
  
  
  
"Well if Gohan was the strongest, I guess it's down hill from here." Jukuo smirked.  
  
"Don't count on it. We're both extremely close in power levels." Trunks said.  
  
"Well, I had no problem beating him. I can work my magic twice…" Jukuo smiled obnoxiously.  
  
"Well good luck to you then." Trunks responded.  
  
"Shall we begin?" Jukuo asked.  
  
"I guess." Trunks replied, powering up. He went into Super Saiyan mode. His hair turned to a golden blonde, and spiked up. Nicole took a deep breath. The battle began.  
  
  
  
Jukuo pounced onto Trunks, and began beating on him. His sword cut threw the air, and in a split second, Trunks had sliced off Jukuo's entire arm. He growled, and then began laughing. His bloody arm fell to the ground. "Nice try Trunks…" Jukuo said. "But you're forgetting something very important… Namekians can regenerate themselves…" Jukuo snickered. Suddenly, the open flesh where Jukuo's arm was began to vibrate. Another arm sprouted. "It's really a very handy ability if you think about it." Jukuo grinned, as he stretched his fingers.  
  
"I guess I won't be needing this then." Trunks said, laying his sword down against a nearby rock. The two flew up into the air.  
  
"Let's try this again." Jukuo said, diving onto Trunks for the second time. Trunks sped away from Jukuo, and did a burning attack. He moved his hands every which way, and sent out a flash of light. Jukuo couldn't see anything. The bright light had blinded him. Trunks suddenly appeared, and punched Jukuo in the stomach. He grunted in pain, as another bash from Trunks sent him flying to the ground. But Trunks was quicker. He sped down, and just as Jukuo was about to crash into the earth, he kicked him and sent him flying into the air. Jukuo suddenly froze. "You're good Trunks… but just not good enough." He muttered. He raced toward Trunks who was hovering in the air. He wasn't fast enough to avoid it. Jukuo put both of his hands together, and pounded Trunks on the head. The deadly blow sent him straight to the ground. Trunks got up, and did a Zanzoken to confuse Jukuo again. A blurred shield of white surrounded Trunks. He disappeared. "Where did that blasted…" Jukuo began to say. Trunks cut him off short. He sprung onto Jukuo, and began violently attacking him. For the next half an hour, punches went flying, along with kicks and ki blasts.  
  
  
  
"They're not getting anywhere…" Tien said.  
  
"If Trunks keeps this up he's going to get so worn out, Jukuo will easily be able to kill him…" Piccolo grumbled. Nicole bit her lip. No… she thought silently.  
  
  
  
"MA… SENKO HAAAA!!!" Trunks screamed, as a massive light force shot at Jukuo. It bounced off his arm, and he sent a Special Beam Cannon attack back to Trunks. "Take THAT!" he yelled, as Trunks dodged the blast. He began attacking Jukuo with everything he had. He punched, hit, and kicked him around the battlefield for a while, until Jukuo began to gain the upper hand. The tables began to turn. Trunks started to lose. Jukuo was attacking him, and Trunks had become much to weak to defend himself. Jukuo struck Trunks in the jaw. He cried out in pain as the force sent him into the ground. Trunks wiped the blood off his chin, and flew back into the air. With more and more failed attempts to attack Jukuo, the more Trunks got battered and bruised. Jukuo smashed Trunks into the ground, for the fourth time. "And you said you and Gohan were near the same power levels? Ha! I think not!" Jukuo laughed, as Trunks struggled to stand up straight. He was hurt even worse than Gohan was. His left arm was badly injured, and his shirt had been ripped in various spots. His chin was bleeding too. "None of you Saiyans are worthy of fighting someone of my incredible power. You're a weakling!" Jukuo laughed. Then, he began shooting out energy blasts like crazy. Trunks, who was having a very hard time dodging them, knew it wasn't a good sign. He wasn't sure if he could really beat Jukuo. He was just so strong.  
  
  
  
Trunks spun around. He knew it before it happened. "NICOLE!!!!! LOOK OUT!!!!!" he yelled. She froze with fear. One of Jukuo's ki blasts had been poorly aimed, and was headed directly for Nicole. She wasn't fast enough. She couldn't get out of the way in time. The energy blast smashed through her. She collapsed to the ground. The blast had cut clear through her chest. Dark blood began spewing all over the ground beneath her. She looked up at Trunks. Her vision blurred. A dark feeling took over her body. "NNNIIIICCCOOOLLLEEE!!!!!!!!!" Trunks screamed. Her eyelids closed. She was gone. "NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Trunks cried. "JUKUO!!!!!!!!!!! HOW COULD YOU!?!?!?!?!?!?" he demanded. Jukuo grinned. "Whoops… did I do that?" he laughed evilly.   
  
"YOU… YOU MONSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Trunks yelled. Tears began to stream down his face. "I… I LOVED HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
  
  
Leah and Angelica were shocked. Their best friend had just been murdered before her very own eyes. Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Vegeta were all stunned too.  
  
"Oh my GOD!!!!!" Yamcha yelled. He hadn't even noticed what happened. He was too busy with his game. "I HATE THIS!!!!!"  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, in the sky, Trunks started screaming like mad. He totally lost control. He screamed and screamed and screamed. "What the heck are you trying to do? Scream yourself hoarse!?!? Trust me, it's not going to do you any good…" Jukuo yelled, covering his ears. "WHAT YOU DID IS GOING TO COST YOU DEARLY!!!!!!!!" Trunks cried.   
  
"Yeah? What are you gonna do? Try to make me go deaf!?" Jukuo chuckled. Trunks continued to scream. He filled with anger. The pain he felt was unbearable. Suddenly, something snapped. The hurt was too much. He just couldn't stand the pain. His arms bulged. His legs swelled. His entire body engorged. A flash of light lit up the sky. Trunks' eyebrows faded away. His hair grew long. It became fuller, and thicker. He could feel power surging through his every vein. "Oh my God…" Gohan muttered. "He did it. He's done it. Guys… I think Trunks just went Super Saiyan level three!!!" Gohan announced in shock.  
  
"No." Vegeta growled. "How is it possible?"  
  
"Just look at him! He looks so different form someone who went Super Saiyan level two! You saw the transformation with your very own eyes, Vegeta. He's done it." Gohan convinced.  
  
"So… that means that he can beat Jukuo now, right?" Krillin asked.  
  
"I think so. His power level has increased dramatically." said Piccolo.  
  
"YAY!" Chiaotzu cheered.  
  
  
  
"You're going to pay." Trunks said calmly.  
  
"Yeah, sure I am. If you ask me, you don't look any stronger than you did before. You just look more like a freak." Jukuo smirked.  
  
"Looks can be deceiving, now can't they?" Trunks said.  
  
"Yes they can. But not in this case." Jukuo shook his head.  
  
"You're over confident Jukuo." Trunks continued.  
  
"We'll see." He grinned. Trunks knew Jukuo was no match for him now… Now that he'd gone Super Saiyan level three. He was going to make him suffer for what he had done to Nicole.  
  
Trunks tackled Jukuo. He punched him in the chest, and then hit him with a strong ki blast. Jukuo lifted his leg up to kick him in the head, but Trunks bent his neck, preventing Jukuo from even touching him.  
  
"He's faster. Much faster." Tien said, as everyone watched the fight progress.   
  
"And incredibly strong… Jukuo has no chance now…" Piccolo said confidently.  
  
"What about Nicole?!" Leah said. She and Angelica had gone over to her with tears in their eyes, to try to help her.  
  
"We'll wish her back with the Dragon Balls." Piccolo said.  
  
"Ok…" Angelica thoughtfully said, standing up and walked over to Gohan. Leah turned around, and sat down on the rock with Yamcha again.  
  
  
  
"SHOOTING SHPERE!" Jukuo yelled. Trunks caught the attack, and blasted it right back to Jukuo. He dodged it, and tried to attack Trunks again, but he was too slow. The tables had turned for the second time. Jukuo was beginning to lose. Trunks had become much too strong. "UGH! TAKE THAT!" Jukuo cried, frustrated. He sent out a Death Disc. Trunks did Kamehameha wave, and eliminated Jukuo's blasts. He pounded Jukuo on the head, and he fell to the ground. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR CHILDISH GAMES!!!" Jukuo choked out. He was badly hurt. His neck was badly bruised and bleeding from all the times Trunks had vigorously kicked him. He stood up, and launched into the sky. "TAKE THIS!!!" Jukuo yelled, sending out a beam of green light. "FINAAAAAL FLAAAASH!!!!!!!!!!" he cried. But he was off. His aim was bad. It was going to happen again. The blast crashed to earth, and hit Leah. She was too busy watching Yamcha play his Game Boy Ultra Star to know what had hit her. Her body tumbled off the rock, and onto the ground. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yamcha screeched. "I LOST! F*** YOU, GAME!!! F*** YOU!!!!!!!!!" Yamcha turned to look at Leah, and was shocked to see what had happened. "Holy… SH*T…" he whispered. Angelica looked at Leah's body, which had toppled off the rock. "Oh my God…" she mumbled.  
  
"LEAH!!!" Yamcha yelled, bending down, and shaking her. Yamcha launched into the air without warning, and tackled Jukuo. Mentally blinded by his anger, he performed a massive Spirit Bomb that was aimed to blow off Jukuo's arm. Missing it, the energy blast sliced off his bruised hand, and once the blast had faded away, Trunks looked at Yamcha angrily and said in a serious tone, "Yamcha, this is our battle. Stay out."   
  
"Trunks!!! He just killed Leah!!!" Yamcha responded, tears welling up in his eyes. Trunks glanced at Nicole on the ground. "I know… stay out." He repeated. Yamcha slowly, and hesitantly returned to the ground. When he landed, Piccolo went over to him, handed him a senzu bean, and said, "That was a very foolish move, Yamcha."   
  
Yamcha scowled, thinking how Piccolo could be so senseless, only because he would never know what love felt like. He sat down, popped the small green bean into his mouth, chewed it, and screamed at the top of his lungs, "MMMM!!! CRUNCHY!!!" Then, he began playing his Game Boy Ultra Star, looking at Leah's corpse every so often.  
  
  
  
"My aim is off today…" Jukuo mumbled.  
  
"It's over Jukuo. You've lost." Trunks said.  
  
"NOT yet I haven't… " Jukuo muttered, drawing his attention back to Trunks. "I WILL defeat you. You're just another worthless Saiyan… like Gohan." Trunks looked down at Nicole's lifeless body. "He'll pay…" Trunks thought, turning away from the awful sight.  
  
"FINAL FLASH!!!!!!" Jukuo shrieked, as another green ray shot from his hands.  
  
"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Trunks cried. "FFFIIIIIIINNNNNNIIIIISSSSHHHHH BBBUUUUUSSSSSSTTTTTTEEEEEERRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Trunks screamed at the top of his lungs. A brilliant flash filled the pitch-black sky with a light that seemed to be brighter than the sun. It raced towards Jukuo. He had no idea what was happening. He was lost in the moment. He froze with fear… just like Nicole had done. "DIE JUKUO!!!!!! DDDDIIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Trunks screamed.  
  
"NOOOOO!!!!!!!" Jukuo cried. The light covered Jukuo's body. He began to disappear. He continued to scream. Soon, his cries faded away, along with the vivid light. The sky returned to black. It was over. Jukuo was gone. He had lost. Trunks had won. He slowly landed on the ground. His hair shrunk back to its original length and position, and resumed it lavender color. His eyebrows returned. He stared into the sky. "He's gone." Trunks whispered. He turned around to face his friends. He saw Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu with looks of awe on their faces. Vegeta was standing away from the group with his arms crossed, and a small smile on his face. It was hard to see, but Trunks knew it was there. He looked at Gohan, and Angelica, and Leah who was on the ground. Yamcha was still playing his game, unaware that Trunks had won. And last, he looked at Nicole. Her body sprawled on the ground… lifeless. "You did it." Gohan said. "You went Super Saiyan level three, and killed Jukuo!"   
  
Trunks smiled. "Let's summon the Dragon." 


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
**********  
  
So they went and got the two Dragon Balls. The three-stared one, and the six-stared one. They put the seven in a small circle, and called upon the Eternal Dragon.  
  
  
  
"Come forth Eternal Dragon! I summon you to grant our wishes!" Krillin chanted. The sky lit up. A huge figure emerged from the Dragon Balls, and unraveled itself into the air. The Dragon… it was enormous… Larger than anything you'd ever seen before. The green scaly creature had dark eyes, a long snout, and a body at least a mile long!  
  
"You have awoken the Eternal Dragon. What is your first wish?" he boomed.  
  
"Please revive all that were killed by Jukuo." Gohan said.  
  
"… It is done." The dragon said after moment. Nicole's eyes opened. She sat up. "What the heck happened?" She asked softly. Trunks ran over to her, and helped her up. "The last thing I remember… was this huge ball of light speeding towards me… and then… I think it hit me… then I remember the pain was… unbearable… it hurt so much… then I felt like I was gonna be sick… and then everything went black… I dunno." Nicole slowly said. "Trunks… did I die?"  
  
He smiled, and nodded. "Yeah…"  
  
"But... I'm back now… right?" she asked, beginning to smile too.  
  
"Yeah." Trunks said, putting his arms around Nicole and hugging her.  
  
He's gone now… Jukuo's gone… right?" Nicole questioned, looking up at the twinkling stars in the sky.  
  
"Yup… he's gone." Trunks answered.  
  
"I knew you'd be the one to kill him…" Nicole whispered.  
  
  
  
She looked over to where Yamcha was… he was sitting next to Leah on the rock… she had been revived too. "DUDE!!!!!! YYYEEESSS!!!!!!! I BEAT IT!!!! YEAH, I BEAT THE WHOLE FREAKIN' ENTIRE GAME!!!! YEAH!!!!"  
  
  
  
"I'm growing impatient. What is your second wish?" boomed the Eternal Dragon.  
  
"Our second wish is to restore all the damage that Jukuo has done to the earth." Gohan said. The beast paused, and then said, "It is done. Your wish has been granted."   
  
Then, right before their eyes, the huge dent in the ground that Jukuo had made completely disappeared. The ground was smooth, just as it was before the battle. Then, the mountain that Jukuo had smashed to pieces returned. The whole island had restored itself. Soon, it looked as if such a life-threatening fight had never took place on it.  
  
  
  
"I must go now." The Eternal Dragon announced. "Farewell." The gigantic monster suddenly vanished. The light dimmed, and it became very dark. The dragon balls formed a circle, and lifted into the sky. They rotated a few times, and then shot in every direction. "What time is it?" Leah asked.  
  
"It's 1:40… I think we all better leave…" Gohan said.  
  
"C'mon then, let's go." Krillin said.   
  
  
  
Once everyone had gotten into the jet plane they had come in, it took off into the night. "I remember when I killed cell… I said, 'the nightmares are over'…" Trunks commented. "Then Jukuo came, and… well I have a feeling that now the nightmares are really over."  
  
Nicole smiled. "…Yeah…"  
  
  
  
First, they dropped off Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu at Capsule Corp. They were planning on spending the night, since it was so late. Then, Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan brought Nicole, Leah, and Angelica to their houses.  
  
  
  
Just like before, Leah and Angelica were dropped off first, because their houses were the closest. By the time they had reached Nicole's house, Trunks and Gohan had finished explaining to her in full detail how Jukuo was defeated.  
  
"Oh my God… wow." Nicole said in shock when they had finished. "That's incredible!"  
  
"We're here." Gohan said.  
  
I hope my parents aren't gonna be mad… it's so late… Nicole thought. She looked at the digital clock on the control panel. It was 2:26. "So the celebration party is tomorrow at noon, right?" Nicole asked.  
  
"Yeah." Trunks answered.  
  
"Alright. Well, I'll see you guys then." She said.  
  
"Bye!" Trunks said smiling, as she shut the door. The plane lifted up, and flew off.  
  
  
  
"God, you REALLY like her, don't you?" Gohan asked, grinning. Trunks blushed. "It's so obvious." Yamcha added.  
  
  
  
The next day was sunny, and warm. It seemed as if the whole world was celebrating Jukuo's downfall. Nicole, Leah, and Angelica were on their way to Capsule Corp. "So… what was it like to die?" Angelica asked.  
  
"Well, I don't really remember… we weren't dead for long so I guess we don't know…" Leah said. "But what really pissed me off, was how Yamcha never even fought! I mean, I really, really wanted to him kick some Namek booty! But from what I got out of the whole story, I guess he did fight when I died… but I still didn't get to see it…" Leah complained.  
  
"What?" Nicole said, turning her head to look at Leah. She had been gazing out the window.  
  
"Nothing. We're here!" Leah declared.  
  
"Great." Nicole said, unclipping her seatbelt.  
  
  
  
The trio got out of the Jaguar, and walked around to the back of Capsule Corp. There, they saw Trunks, Yamcha, Gohan, Bulma, Vegeta, Bra, Piccolo, Goten, ChiChi, Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu, Master Roshi, his turtle, Oolong, Puar, and even Yajirobe was there! "Hey guys!" Leah waved cheerfully.  
  
"Oh, hi!" Yamcha said walking over to them. Trunks and Gohan followed him.  
  
"Hey, we're all really glad you could come." Gohan said.  
  
"Well we defiantly wouldn't miss something like this." Angelica responded.  
  
  
  
They parted carried on pretty late into the evening. The girls had been introduced to the people at the party that they hadn't met yet, and Leah had become good friends with Yamcha's shape-shifting cat, Puar. Bra had celebrated her birthday during the party, like Leah had suggested also. All in all, the party was a ton of fun, and everyone went home that night happy. There would be no more attacks from evil beings anymore. That was a definite. But still… Jukuo may have been killed, but it was truly just the beginning of everyone's lives.  
  
  
  
Friday, December 31st 2010  
  
"Oh my God Trunks! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see the ball drop!" Nicole said.  
  
"I know… me too." He agreed. The two were at Times Square, celebrating New Years Eve. Nicole glanced at the huge digital clock above their heads. It was 11:55.   
  
Over the past five years, not much had changed. Leah and Yamcha were still together, and so were Angelica and Gohan. The two couples had had a few bad arguments, but luckily got things patched up between them before long. The group had also gone on a couple of triple dates, and they all had gone to the prom together.  
  
  
  
It was a beautiful night. The sky was incredibly clear, despite the fact that they were in New York City. The air was cold, but not freezing. It was more refreshing than anything. So there the two stood, in the crowded streets of New York, waiting for the sparkling ball that was perched on a collage of signs to be dropped to the ground, when the clock struck midnight. It was 11:57. Just three more minutes. Nicole thought. Trunks turned to face her. "Nicole… I… I wanna tell you something." Trunks began.  
  
"What?" Nicole asked curiously.  
  
"We've been through a lot… preparing for the battle with Jukuo… the fight itself… and the past years… well, when I think back to that day… in Record Town… the day we met… I remember feeling so lost before then. It was like… you helped me find myself. Nicole, you showed me and gave me… everything I've ever needed, or wanted. You've taught me so much. You've always been there for me, and always have understood me. You're like an angel to me. I love you, Nicole. I always have, ever since that first day… since that first night… and I would have never been able to kill Jukuo if you hadn't been there… and then we wouldn't be here now. You mean the world to me Nicole, and if I ever lost you, I don't know what I would do. I wanna be with you forever. Nicole… I…" Trunks stuttered. Nicole felt a tear slip down her cheek. "I… I want you to marry me." He said. Nicole's heart felt like it had stopped beating. "Oh… Oh Trunks…" she gasped. She threw her arms around him. More hot tears streaked down her face. At that moment, the clock turned from 11:59 to 12:00. The ball came crashing to the ground. That was when Nicole had a flashback… first of herself when she met Trunks the first time ever. She remembered the shock, the disbelief, and the bewilderment she felt when she first laid eyes on him. She remembered the exit sign in the movie theatre that she almost couldn't find. She remembered all the fun she had had looking for the Dragon Balls, the night her and her friends spent at Capsule Corp., and at Mr. Popo's tower. Then she recalled the battle with Jukuo. She remembered the sphere of light that darted toward her, that took her life. She remembered waking up on the island, with the huge Dragon floating above everyone. She remembered the prom, and all the other things she had done with Trunks over the last five years. And finally, she remembered herself when she was twelve. When she had her dream, and how Leah had said, 'Do you really think that's going to happen?' and told her she was crazy for believing it. How Angelica had said she needed to get it through her head, that he wasn't a 'real person', and that the two would never meet. How Johanna had said she was 'being sucked into a world of fantasy'.   
  
"Of course I will." She whispered. The ball shattered. The crowded streets became even louder. Everyone began cheering. Nicole and Trunks both kissed. "Happy New Year, Nicole." Trunks said.  
  
"Happy New Year." she whispered back.   
  
So Nicole and Trunks got married a while later, and went on a two week trip to Hawaii, California, and Las Vegas for their honeymoon. They two moved into a big house that was close to Capsule Corp. The next year, they had two twin girls, Sora, and Victoria. (Vikki for short) A year later, they had another child, a boy they named Adam, which Trunks began to train to be a great martial artist.  
  
  
  
As for Leah and Yamcha, they both got married shortly after Trunks and Nicole had come back from their honeymoon. The couple even had starred in a new Dr. Pepper commercial! They went on to have eight children, four girls, Starisha, Jasmine, Alyia, and Alexis, and four boys, named Rich, Ijahmon, Ashley, and Akira.  
  
  
  
Angelica and Gohan however, broke up a few years later after he had taught her to fly, and Gohan went on to marry a girl he knew from his high school, named Videl. They had a girl named Pan. Angelica soon began dating someone named Bobby she had known in junior high, and they soon got married. They had three children, one boy and two girls, named Jason, Kristin, and Johanna.  
  
  
  
The group of friends still stayed in close touch though. Nicole, Leah, and Angelica were still the best of friends, and so were Trunks, Yamcha, and Gohan.  
  
  
  
But Nicole always would remember, how she had felt before she had met Trunks. She'd never ever forget all the pain and hurt she'd feel, day after day. But her faith had never faded away. She had always believed. She never gave up. Her undying hope had kept her going. And that day in Record Town, when her and Trunks first met, she knew that all of her dreams had come true. And it was all because of the hope she had kept in her heart for all those years. The perpetual hope. The eternal hope. The Moeagaru Kibou.   
  
Flaming Hope. 


End file.
